Halo: An Odd Relationship
by Real Plasma
Summary: Mayne is a burdened ODST, after losing his team on a fatal mission he refuses to let anyone into his life in fear of seeing more friends die. But that changes when Mayne is assigned to a new team with a new mission and he begins to fall for a certain female elite. Will Mayne fit in with his new team, understand new love and conquer an old enemy or will revenge lead to his demise?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note**

Hello everyone and welcome to Halo: An Odd Relationship!

Ok firstly, the pairing in this story is Male Human/Female Sangheili. I've done this because I really enjoy reading these types of stories and there aren't enough of them out there. Saying that, it is difficult to write about this type of pairing so give me a little slack. Secondly, this story is set in the timeline of Halo 5 so there will be some cheeky references and occasional dialogue from the game.

Last but not least, sit back and enjoy the first chapter!

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 **Location: Pelican en route to** _ **UNSC**_ _ **Infinity**_

 **Date: 20** **th** **February 2558**

 **Time: 1500 hours**

A sudden bump to the dropship caused the dozing ODST to bolt upright and bring his trusty combat knife to hand. The knife was sheathed after the ODST remembered where he was.

For the last week Mayne Alexander had been in insurrectionist territory, his mission; to eliminate an arms dealer that had obtained UNSC equipment and was selling it to the rebels. He completed the mission flawlessly.

Just two months after the Covenant-Human war ended the Insurrectionists have made a reappearance and were once again a pain in the ass for the UNSC. Even at the age of 26 Mayne was one of the best of the best, an expert at lone wolf suicidal missions and as most people had said, "if he was any better he'd be a Spartan!" But that privilege came with a cost. advanced training, constant exposure to harsh environments and of course the orbital drops into raging battles.

"Shit I must be tired." Mayne confessed to himself as he removed his helmet and ran his calloused hands through his short spiky brown hair, greasy from a lack of showering. Mayne could only imagine what the rest of his body smelt like. He gazed around the empty cabin of the pelican where teams of marines would usually sit and was struck with a piercing sadness. He had a team once. Fireteam Chaos. They were perfect. They worked together exceptionally well and they always got their missions done, whether it be against the Covenant or the Innies, their missions were flawless. That all changed during one mission during the defense of the planet Reach. Something went wrong. They messed up, and now Whetherman, Kyte , Brown and Novell were dead. Yet Mayne lived, he was lucky.

The young ODST snorted. Lucky. That was his nickname, given to him by his team for surviving suicidal situations which included taking on a Sangheili general with nothing but his combat knife and driving a Warthog into a pair of Hunters, running them off a cliff and jumping out at the last moment. It was only by luck that he didn't die that long, cold night along with his team.

Mayne turned his helmet and stared blankly into his visor, his green eyes stared back at his and a single tear fell from his eye.

 _Why me_ , He thought numbly, _Why did I have to survive and they didn't?_ Mayne's sadness suddenly turned to anger and he flung his helmet across the cabin and into the opposing wall with a heart wrenching yell. The helmet hit the ground with a 'thunk' and a dint clear in the space the helmet impacted.

"It's not fair!" The young ODST shouted at the wall, more tears raced after the first.

After his failed mission with his long lost fireteam Mayne refused to be assigned to another team, even after being threatened with court martial he was determined not to let anyone close.

The overhead speakers crackled to life, "You alright in there Corporal?" The pilot asked questioningly "Just heard a bang back there."

Mayne wiped the tears from his face, a salty sensation in his mouth from a stray tear. He scowled at himself. "I'm fine pilot." Mayne called out reassuringly towards the cockpit. The now emotionless ODST stood and moved to pick up his grounded helmet. He inspected the dint made in the top of the helmet, dusted it off and placed it back on his head, an abrupt hiss seeping from his suit as it became airtight once more.

"ETA to the Infinity five minutes, better pack your bags Trooper." The pilot informed. Mayne of course carried only a light bag containing the few items essential for field hygiene and grabbed it along with a trusty BR55 Battle Rifle which he slung onto his armoured shoulder and M6 Magnum stowed away in its holster which he instinctively brushed his hand across, an action developed after countless solo missions. A short moment later and the rumbling sound and sudden thump told Mayne that the pelican had landed. The back hatch hissed and slowly lowered down to the ground artificial air rushing in to greet the weary ODST.

Throwing a last "thank you" to the pilot, Mayne removed his helmet and placed it under his arm, made his way down the angled hatch and made a beeline straight to the nearest officer to report on his mission. Whilst crossing the vast hanger he paused as he noticed a Type-55 Lich stationed on one of the landing pads. Elites were hovering around the ship and Mayne noticed they had the mark of the Swords of Sanghelios on their chest armour.

 _"What are the Hingeheads doing here?"_ Mayne thought before continuing on his way. What he failed to notice was an Elite observing him from the alien craft.

Special Operations Commander Reesha Moram, dressed in her reflective black armour that looked similar to a Field Marshall's armour, was overlooking the refueling and packing of supplies into the Lich when she noticed the lone human standing off to the side watching the Elites work. The human had short spiky hair and was wearing a set of black body armour with red patterns covering the shoulder pads and helmet under their arm. Reesha would have normally shrugged this off but she continued to look for a moment longer, not at the human's armour or their face but at their eyes.

This human had brilliant, vibrant green eyes that kept her own bright blue eyes glued to them. In those green pools of brilliance she saw confidence and intelligence, something she doesn't usually see in the eyes of humans. After just a moment the human turned on his heel and walked away. Watching him walk off the female Sangheili found that she respected the strength she glimpsed in those eyes.

"Commander Reesha, is everything well?" A Sangheili Officer in red armour questioned. Snapping out of her thoughts the female Spec Ops Commander turned and lay a reassuring claw on the officer's shoulder.

"Yes, everything is quite well Zek. How close are we to being refueled and restocked?" She asked.

"We are fueled and almost restocked on supplies, we should be done soon Commander." Zek stated before saluting with a clenched fist to his chest before turning about and resuming his work. After returning the salute Reesha busied herself by inspecting the blood red energy blade she carried on her leg, its red colour flung red shades across her armour, giving her a rather menacing look. A gift from her teacher, the red blade had been driven into many bodies, both human and Jiralhanae alike.

As a Spec Ops Commander in the Covenant alliance, she and her fellow spec ops Sangheili had been assigned on many missions behind human lines to gather intel or assassinate specific humans of high importance. This all changed of course after the betrayal of the Prophets and after the formation of the Swords of Sangheilios she and her soldiers had been assigned as the personal guard of the Arbiter, leading attacks on the remaining Covenant forces with their well-respected leader; Thel Vadam.

Mayne Alexander crossed the hanger and towards one of the many sliding doors that led away from the vast vehicle filled room. Upon nearing the door he noticed a commotion off to the left where the Captain of the _UNSC Infinity_ and his second stood _;_ Thomas Lasky and Spartan Sarah Palmer was speaking to an old, rather annoyed one armed scientist being escorted by a group of Spartans. " _That's Fireteam Osiris, what are they doing with a scientist?"_ Mayne thought.

"Lasky, I told you my position three weeks ago. I told you this was happening!" The elderly woman growled, annoyed further by Captain Lasky's emotionless response.

"We'll discuss that in private, Doctor Halsey." He said bluntly but with authority, he then gestured to Spartan Palmer towering next to him, "Palmer?" Interpreted as an order, Spartan Palmer wrapped her titanium arm around the doctors own arm and began walking her away, towards the same door Mayne stood by.

"What has she done? How far has it already gone?" The scientist became worried when Captain Lasky didn't respond.

"Good work Osiris." The Captain stated and then turned and walk off with Palmer towards the doors, leaving the Spartans very much confused.

As the Captain and Spartan Palmer passed Mayne gave a solid salute, "Captain, Commander." He acknowledged.

"Corporal." The pair responded in almost unison and continued on their way, Captain Lasky's footfalls soft on the steel floor compared to the clunking of the massive Spartan beside him. Mayne continued in a different direction, heading for the debriefing center where he would give all the information he had gathered and actions he had taken. Mayne let out a long deflated sigh, the debrief was always a long and boring task but necessary as the _UNSC Infinity_ needed to keep a log of missions for HIGHCOM.

At the bridge Captain Lasky parted ways with Spartan Palmer and Doctor Halsey.

"Commander Palmer, I must leave you here as I have a meet and greet with a Sangheili Special Ops Commander in a few minutes and I don't want to be late to the party." He smiled stupidly, amused by his own humour. Spartan Palmer, clearly not as impressed just nodded and continued to speak to the one armed doctor.

Reesha sat on a supply container as she awaited the appearance of the Shipmaster of this vessel. She expected that the Shipmaster of such a large and formidable ship would be large and ferocious, such as were the Shipmasters commanding the large vessels in the Sangheili fleet. When a relatively stocky human male with short black hair, a fancy uniform and a hint of a protruding belly began making his was towards her she was rather confused. The man stopped in front of her saluted her in the Sangheili fashion, making a fist and raising it to his chest and then letting it drop to his side. "Special Operations Commander Reesha Moram?" The man asked.

Reesha crossed her arms over her chest. During the war her dealings with humans had been mostly in the sights of her Type-25 Plasma Rifle or at the end of her red blade. It was only after the events of the Great Schism and the exposure of false teachings from the prophets that she viewed humans as allies. After coming to understand that the humans were not heretics but just another race simply trying to protect themselves and their way of life she felt devastated. Every death she had delivered to a human was because of a lie. There was no Great Journey and there was nothing godlike about the Forerunners, they were just a superior race before them. This lie led to her species killing millions if not billions of innocent human lives and that left a hole larger than a Wrath crater in her soul.

"Yes, I am Commander Reesha. Are you the Shipmaster of this vessel?" The female Sangheili confirmed. The man seemed to laugh slightly, he mouth widening into what Reesha could only assume was a smile.

"Yes I guess I am the equivalent of a Shipmaster, I am the Captain of this ship, my name is Thomas Lasky. Let me escort you to the Bridge, I assume we have a lot to talk about." Reesha nodded. She had been sent on this mission by the Arbiter with a request and was eager to get started with it. She turned to one of the Sangheili working behind her,

"Zek, take command while I am away." Reesha called and the Sangheili saluted.

"As you wish Commander." He replied and turned to issue orders to the other elites. Captain Lasky made a gesture with his hand as an invitation for the female Spec Ops Commander to walk beside him.

"Lets go then." He said cheerfully, turning to walk back the way he came Reesha moved up beside him and the couple walked out of the hanger and towards the bridge.

Mayne tapped the _Finish Report_ button on the handheld device after what seemed to be stood up from his uncomfortable office-like chair and made his way back to the aging debrief officer behind his large desk.

"That was the longest hour of my life" Mayne grumbled to himself as he handed the godforsaken device over to the bored officer. The officer heard the ODST's grumbling.

"Suck it up kid, imagine my job, you got it easy. Just wait 'till you're 50." The officer snorted and took the data pad from Mayne's grasp. Mayne rolled his eyes.

"You have a good day too." He retorted before walking out of the debrief center, oblivious to the older officer rolling his eyes.

Once outside the center, Mayne pulled his small personal data pad from a pocket within his armoured chest pad. With a few clicks he located his own room and made a beeline for it. On the way he passed a group of marines chattering amongst themselves.

"Hey, did you hear that some Spartans cut the head of the Covenant?" One male marine asked to his companions.

"Jul 'Mdama is dead? Thank fuck!" Another marine exclaimed while the others marines whooped in delight.

 _Jul 'Mdama is dead? Well at least the Swords of Sanghelios will have an easier time against the Covenant now._ The ODST thought. Once Mayne arrived he swiped his data pad across the scanner and the door slide open with a hiss.

For the first time in days, the ODST smiled. "Home sweet home." He grinned slightly and walked inside, taking in all the details within a second. The walls were unpainted steel, and so was the floor and roof. The bed was a single with a thin mattress and metal frame. Next to the bed sat a set of draws that contained personal items. A locker sat to the side of the room and a few hooks were placed above it. Mayne carefully put his firearms onto the hooks and opened his locker and was faced with three pairs of fresh ODST labelled fatigues, a pair of polished black boots and a set of physical training gear which were accompanied by a pair of standard running shoes.

Mayne laughed as he picked out the PT gear "My my, I've missed you." He began unclipping his armour from his body and reeled back at the aroma produced by his body suit. Once comfortably in his PT clothing he grabbed a towel from the locker and made his way to the door with his next mission in mind; having a shower.

At the door he paused and instead walked to the set of draws beside his bed. Mayne bent down and opened the top draw, within was a single photo of Mayne and his fireteam. The photo was taken after a mission they completed on Paris IV, and the closely knitted friends were huddled together making stupid faces towards the camera. Mayne had his hand over Whetherman's giving the bunny sign and had his tongue sticking out. He missed Whetherman, he missed Novell, Fuck, he missed all of them. They were his closest friends, His only friends. Tears threatened to break loose again and Mayne hurriedly wipe them away. He carefully placed the photo back into the draw like it was an ancient relic and walked quickly towards the showers, his smile gone and sadness setting in.

The shower was a bleak one, the water crashing down on Mayne's well built body did nothing to cheer him up. Looking down at his exposed body at the rewards he had received from uncountable missions; Plasma burns, cuts, grazes and even the occasional bullet wound but the one that suck out most was a dark, prominent scar running from his left shoulder all the way down to his bottom rib, the story that accompanied the wound he would give anything to forget. After returning to his room, Mayne striped down to his boxer shorts and jumped into bed for some shuteye before dinner time came around. The bed was warm and calming and it was only a matter of seconds before Mayne felt his eyes droop and his vision faded to black as he fell asleep.

A sleep he wished he never had.

With a cry Mayne shot up with clenched hands, ready to fight. Sweat poured down his face and seeped out of what seemed every pore on his body. The ODST fell back onto his bed, completely exhausted from the activity that should have rejuvenated him. A small beep from his data pad on the table next to him gained his attention. Mayne leaned over and picked the small device up, squinting at its bright light.

 **Sender: Bridge officer Sergeant Sam Roger**

 **Receiver: Corporal Mayne Alexander**

 **Message Start**

 **From command of Captain Thomas Lasky, come to the bridge, 5 minutes, no gear required.**

 **Message Finish**

With his curiosity perked the ODST put his nightmare to the back of his mind and quickly got dressed into a set of formal uniform and walked briskly out of his room towards the bridge.

* * *

*Dusts hands together* Well, that's the first chapter. I really hoped you all enjoyed it and leave a review with a bit of criticism, tell me what I could improve on or just give me an idea of what you thought of it. Just for everyone to know, chapters will probably be spread apart due to school starting again in a few days but I will upload.

I will see you all in the next chapter, have a lovely morning, day, afternoon.

Peace!


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note:** Hey everyone, I'm back with the second chapter to Halo:An Odd Relationship. This chapter doesn't contain action but the content hopefully fulfills your expectations.

Once again, feel free to leave a review, if you have an account I will certainly respond too you.

Now enjoy the read and I'll catch you all later!

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 **Location: UNSC** _ **Infinty**_

 **Date: 20th February 2558**

 **time: 2100 hours**

Spec Ops Commander Reesha and the Captain of the _UNSC_ _Infinity_ stood around a large rectangular holographic table. Reesha had been sent on a mission by the Arbiter to discuss the possibility that the Humans could aid them in the war against the Covenant. After discussing the proposition for two hours and a quick conversation between Captain Lasky and HIGHCOMM they had reached a conclusion that the _Infinity_ would send an extremely experienced fireteam of ODST's and a company of marines commanded by a Captain to aid in the war against the Covenant.

Reesha watched carefully as men and women filed into the bridge. Most of the humans had patches on their shoulders which signified a rank of some standing or another, all well below her own and Lasky's. Among the officers were three human; two males and one female. These humans wore different clothing to the officers' formal uniform that had the words _ODST: Orbital Drop Shock Trooper_ on the left chest-side of their uniform in bold, white, script. The last human male entered the bridge and moved to stand by the table. This human wore the same formal ODST uniform as the other three humans but didn't stand with them. It took her a second but she realised that she was looking at the same human that she saw in the hanger, the same well-rounded face, short spiky hair and the same intriguing green eyes.

The Captain of the ship began to talk but she continued to observe the human with wonderful green eyes for a second longer. " _For a human, he does look appealing."_ She surprised herself before she quickly shrugged the thought off.

"Welcome people, you have been called upon to assist in a new mission." Captain Lasky wasn't one to dance around the point but instead got straight to it, "This is going to be a hard choice for all of you because we have only finished a war and I am asking for you all to go back and join a new one." A few of the officers tilted their heads confusingly and a few actually took steps back. A low mumble began to spread across the group of assembled humans

Reesha decided that it was her turn to step in. She stepped forward and the group before her went silent. "It is true that this decision will be difficult for you, we know you have only finished a war against us and now it is our species that is requesting assistance in our own fight against the Covenant." She knew that most of these humans must feel hatred towards her and the Sangheili and she wanted to press on but a voice broke in and stopped her.

"Why should we go and help these squid faced freaks fight their own war when they nearly killed all of us?" An officer announced in an agitated voice and received a few mumbles of agreement. The female Sangheili was partially annoyed at the intrusion but Reesha knew that the human was right, what right did she or the Arbiter have to ask for help from the race they almost annihilated, so she took a different approach.

"The Arbiter and the Spartan you call Master Chief formed an alliance after the Great Schism and even now, the Arbiter speaks highly of the Spartan. We can do the same, as two races, we can come together and form a proper alliance and live together in harmony." The mention of the famous Spartan that almost single handedly saved the human race changed the expressions on many of the officers.

Seeing that her speech was getting through to the humans she pushed on. "If you help us defeat the Covenant once and for all then we will all be free from war, your families and your friends will all live freely and without fear of death and destruction. This will be your final fight." She finished calmly and confidently. She could see that her words had a massive effect on the gathered humans and even gained the attention of humans working at different stations on the bridge. She took a glimpse at the green eyed male and saw that her words clearly had an insurmountable impact. She could see the emotions playing openly on his face, his eyes changing from hurt to anger and finally resolve. _"What has this human gone through for him to show such emotion so openly?"_ The human's emerald eyes suddenly locked with hers and she quickly averted her gaze to the other officers.

Mayne had walked onto the bridge with no idea what was going to happen. He certainly didn't expect to be included in a meeting with officers, the Captain and a rather unique Sangheili. Jason saw the Sangheili first as it stood out from the crowd. The first thing he noticed was the armour, which was reflective black, like it had been polished over and over again until all grime and wear had been removed. Mayne almost smiled as he thought how well it matched the armour worn by the advanced ODST's. The second thing he noticed was that this Sangheili was not at large as others and had a more elegant build with hips that were more curved than the average elite.

" _A female elite? What is she doing here?"_ Mayne thought curiously, he had never encountered a female Sangheili before and if he had he didn't pay attention to their gender as he fired at them with whatever weapon he had in his arsenal. He didn't get time to think more about this new Elite as Captain Lasky stepped forward and began the meeting. When Captain Lasky made the statement of supporting the Sangheili, Mayne too stepped back a pace and his eyes narrowed in hatred towards those words that left the Captain's mouth.

" _But why? Why would we want to help them after what the hinge heads did to our species. And what about my team, they were murdered by the bastards!"_ Mayne almost spoke up before someone else beat him to the punch, speaking almost the same words in his mind.

Before he could act any further the female elite stepped forward and spoke. The words that came from her mouth seemed to turn Mayne's anger away from the Captain's words and to an old foe. " _I will fight the Covenant again and I will not do it for these hinge heads. I will fight for them, my team. I will avenge their deaths and set things right."_ Coming to a final resolution, Mayne sensed a gaze upon him and looked up to catch the bright blue eyes of the female elite which were quickly averted, making Mayne raise an eyebrow curiously. Mayne hoped that the elite didn't see his lack of control of his emotions and fortunately she showed no evidence that she did. What Mayne didn't know what that his emotional outbreak did not escape the three certain ODST soldiers that were observing him.

Lasky took the stage once again. "Ok people now that you know the basics you may head back to your company and you will receive orders from your Captain afterwards." Then once Mayne began to turn and leave Lasky added in an extra word, "Captain Hendricks and ODST's stay behind if you will."

With the room vacated with an exception of the Captain, female elite, Captain Hendricks, the ODST's and himself, the Captain gestured for them to come around the holographic table. Mayne took a glimpse at the other ODST's and saw them looking back at him with unkind eyes. He didn't like what he thought was going to happen. Captain Hendricks stood beside Mayne and offered his hand to him. Mayne took his hand in a strong grasp.

"Captain James Hendricks, Commander of 24th Infantry Company." Captain Hendricks said.

"Corporal Mayne Alexander, Sir, ODST." Mayne responded. Captain Hendricks's face showed confusion as to why Mayne hadn't stated his company. Such a thing was normal in an introduction within the UNSC.

"Do you have company or platoon?" He questioned.

"I'm not attached to one Sir." When Hendricks made to question the ODST more Captain Lasky stepped in.

"That's true Captain, Corporal Alexander is not in a fireteam, platoon or company. He refuses to be attached to a new team. Even when threatened with court martial he refuses but due to his skill set we have still had use for him, so he runs lone missions."

This is when one of the other ODSTs stepped forward, his expression one of annoyance,

"Then why, can I ask, are we here Sir?" He asked in a frustrated tone. He was a big man, standing well over Mayne's height, his skin a strong tanned colour and he looked stronger than a hunter. The female ODST stepped forward and cut him off. She was close to six feet tall, a little smaller than Mayne but with her dark hazel eyes and jet-black hair she looked good enough to kill without hesitation. "Ajax, stow it." She growled and instead took a more presentable lead.

"Captain, why do you require us to attend?"

Mayne was guessing she already had a slight idea as did he. He didn't like it one bit and it was clear that she didn't either. Captain Lasky knew there would be a disagreement but pushed on while Reesha stood to the side, not taking part in the greetings for the moment.

"Corporal Alexander, from this moment on until the Swords of Sangheilios no longer require our aid you will be assigned to Fireteam Phoenix and Sergeant Catherine Myers will be your fireteam Commander, is that understood?" Already before the Captain had finished what he was saying Mayne was shaking his head.

"No can do, Captain. I'm not being assigned to another fireteam after what happened before." Mayne replied evenly and Captain Lasky shook his head in return,

"Corporal Alexander, Fireteam Phoenix is one of the best ODST fireteams and few other ODSTs can match their skill abilities and none of them are in the area, except you. I will not send Fireteam Phoenix into this operation with a member down."

The third ODST finally made a statement. This ODST had the body features like Mayne, not too tall but was well built with a sharp face and a buzz cut. "We don't want a new member, we can work better without him." He stated with an angry glare and once again Catherine had to intervene.

"Gabriel, that's enough!" The snarled before facing the Captain and Mayne.

"Sir, my team is like a well-oiled machine, we have worked together on mission for years and even if we have to work was a man down I am willing to take that risk. Assigning a new member to my team will slow things down and possibly get another one of my friends killed." Mayne automatically had taken an instant dislike to the two men but found that Catherine could be at least tolerated.

Captain Lasky was having none of it. "Sergeant, this is not up for discussion, Corporal, like it or not you are now attached to Fireteam Phoenix and you will learn to work together for your own sake." The captain's glare to both Mayne and Catherine was enough to shut them up.

"Yes Sir" Mayne and Catherine acknowledged before Catherine gestured for Mayne to come over to their side of the table as Captain Lasky briefed Captain Hendricks on his mission.

Once Mayne joined his new team Catherine began introductions

"Mayne, This is Corporal Gabriel Handson; Phoenix 2. Corporal Ajax Cutter; Phoenix 3 and I am Sergeant Catherine Myers; Phoenix 1. You are Phoenix 4. I'll just put it out there, none of us are happy about this arrangement but we have to work it out. Gabe and Jax, cut the shit with the new guy, we're all going to die if we don't work together." Mayne nodded as did the other two ODSTs without objection, all ODSTs were rulebreakers, cocky and generally a pain in the ass for officers but they did follow commands from respected leaders.

Reesha decided that it was time to greet the special forces soldiers as they had their own special role in this operation. When she approached the ODSTs took an involuntary step back, habits were hard to break. Taking a breath she hoped to the Gods that this went well.

"I am Reesha Moram, Special Operations Commander. You are O.D. ?" She had trouble trying to pronounce every individual letter in the abbreviation. A small chuckle emitted from the four human soldiers brought a purple tinge to her cheeks.

"Yeah, we're ODSTs." The female soldier stated. Reesha pushed her embarrassment to the back of her mind and launched into her plan.

"On this mission the Arbiter has requested that a small force of better trained soldiers be assigned to his personal guard along with myself and my team. The attempts of assassination on the Arbiter have grown in the past months and we need more soldiers to help defend him as well as be ready to assist in battles. Your Captain was unable to supply Spartans but you are the next best thing." She could see a small lift in the ODST's shoulders with the praise. She glanced across the soldiers pausing slightly on the greened eyed soldier. She felt something in her chest flicker,but it was gone as fast as it came. This human definitely was arousing her curiosity.

Mayne saw that her gaze lingered on himself a little more than the others and wondered what it was she was looking at, doing a quick inspection of his uniform he saw nothing out of place and so he shrugged it off. Nothing to worry about. He did though take a moment to observe the female Sangheili and tried to describe her, what was she? The only word he could put out there was attractive which surprised him greatly. He moved his gaze down her body and eventually gazed at the more prominent area behind her hips. " _Hard habits are hard to break but she's an elite for God's sake!"_ Mayne smacked himself on the forehead mentally and shook his head to clear the odd thoughts.

Captain Lasky shook the hand of Captain Hendricks and walked over to the other group.

"Commander Reesha, I assume you've informed the ODSTs on their role in this operation?" He asked and Reesha nodded.

"I've informed them that they are being assigned to the Arbiter's personal guard along with my team." She stated and the Captain nodded his approval.

"Fireteam Phoenix, are you clear on your mission?" A round of " _Sir_ 's!" from the soldiers gave Captain Lasky hope that this team might work out after all.

"Remember to work together Phoenix, the operation starts in Hanger five at 0600, go get some sleep."

Reesha watched as the four ODSTs left the bridge before turning to the Captain.

"Captain Lasky, I have a question about Corporal Alexander." She asked cautiously.

Captain Lasky smiled slightly.

"Ahhh, Mayne, what would you like to know about him?" He said and Reesha continued.

"It's about why he wants to work alone." The smiled instantly faded for the Captain face and Reesha felt she had made a mistake in asking. Captain Lasky scratched behind his neck uncomfortably.

"Hmmm…" Lasky sighed. "I understand your curiosity. But I'm afraid that's what we humans call personal business. It won't affect the mission, I assure you. He's strong enough to put it behind him."

Reesha nodded thoughtfully said her farewell and made her way back to her own vessel where all the other Sangheili would be. " _Whatever happened to this human; Mayne, I will find out."_ She thought. She couldn't pinpoint the reason why she wanted to know, but now her curiosity was peaked, she would find out.

General Ruko 'Zutamee sat upon his throne-like chair on the bridge of the CSO-class Supercarrier _Dominating Ascent,_ The main Covenant corvette in the remaining Covenant fleet. Ruko was a huge Sangheili in gold armour that almost matched the height of the mighty Jul 'Mdama and had the reputation for being brutal and unforgiving. Ruko was sitting comfortably on his throne until a Sangheili came running onto the bridge.

"General 'Zutamee!" The Sangheili messenger called as he quickly knelt before the looming figure.

"Stand Messenger." Ruko snarled and the soldier rose quickly to his full height, a whole head and half below Ruko.

"Reports have come in from Jul 'Mdama's corvette, they say that he is dead! He was killed by a Demon!" Ruko felt his eyes light up and an evil grin appeared on his face. Jul 'Mdama was his leader but he certainly was not a friend, in fact the Sangheili leader was merely an obstacle for Ruko in his desire to rule the Covenant. He turned to the elite working the communications,

"Open a channel to the other corvettes." The Sangheili nodded and a series of _beeps_ signalled the other Shipmasters accepting communication.

"Shipmasters, I speak to you now to bring truly unfortunate news. Our leader Jul 'Mdama has been slain in battle against Demons." Ruko could hear the uproar of the Sangheili on the other end of the comms and continued, "With the Covenant now leaderless I suggest that I; General Ruko 'Zutamee take control of the leadership of the Covenant. I promise that I will bring death to the Arbiter and his heretic followers!" He finished triumphantly. A voice came through the comms.

"I concur, General Ruko 'Zutamee should lead us. For the Covenant!" The voice stated, the statement followed by roars of approval. Ruko smiled broadly and was about to thank the other Shipmasters for this honour but another voice cut in.

"As Shipmaster of the _Ruthless Plunder_ I reject your proposition and I vote that we hold a proper council meeting to decide who will lead the glorious Covenant." Ruko stopped smiling and a cold fury began to build towards the opposing Shipmaster.

"Weapons operator." He seethed.

"Yes General?" The weapons operator responded nervously. No one wanted to get on the bad side of the General, many have and thus met their untimely demise.

"Target all weapons towards the _Ruthless Plunder_ and launch a plasma barrage." Ruko ordered. The operator shrank back in his seat,

"General, you cannot order me to target our own corvette, I won't kill my fellow brethren." He resisted. The General stood up and paced towards the operator, the silence on the bridge was deafening. Ruko suddenly became deathly calm.

"Then I will find someone who will." He stated calmly before he unclipped the energy blade on his thigh and activated the emerald green blade and in one smooth motion, severed the head from the body of the poor elite, the head impacted the group with a _plonk_ and rolled a few feet before stopping. The now lifeless corpse crumpled to the floor and a torrent of blood began to gush along the purple deck.

"Someone get on the weapons and target the _Ruthless Plunder, NOW!"_ Ruko raored the last word and a Sangheili launched into action, jumping onto the seat and ignoring the blood he quickly tapped in the order. A few seconds past and then the elite spoke.

"Salvo away, General." He said just above a whisper. Ruko pulled up a camera view of the _Ruthless Plunder_ just to see the plasma barrage hit and the corvette detonate in a ball of purple flame.

The Comms came alive.

"General, why in the God's name did you destroy the _Reckless Plunder_?!" A shipmaster yelled franticly into the comms. A venomous smile came to Ruko's mandibles.

"I'm just doing my job, executing those who would weaken the glorious Covenant!"

Now that Ruko was in charge, there would be no stopping the Covenant from rising back to its former power. The Swords of Sanghelios will fall and the humans will be next.


	3. Chapter 3

**Location:** _ **UNSC Infinity**_

 **Date: 21** **st** **February 2558**

 **Time: 0400 hours**

The next morning, Mayne was up well before the due time and decided that he should get a hearty breakfast into his gut before going on this mission. Who knew how long it would be before he would be able to eat good food again. On previous missions Mayne often went without a proper meal, relying on the meager MREs that he received in his drop pod. Yes, the MREs would sustain him with the basic nutrients to but they were tasteless and he would trade them any day for a hot meal and a coffee, something that was a rare occurrence, even in the barracks.

With two hours before he needed to report, the ODST changed casually into his now clean Shock Trooper armour, checking over it for damage as he strapped the pieces on. Picking up his worn helmet he gently brushed his fingers over the red pattern painted on it, a tradition he developed after the loss of his team. To Mayne it showed respect for his fallen brothers and sisters from Fireteam Chaos. To others, the crudely painted patterns raised eyebrows and even earned some dislike from the officers, mainly due to the 'disrespect of uniform' as the officers said.

Once padded up, Mayne packed his camouflaged coloured duffle bag full of spare uniforms, PT gear as well as basic items of hygiene and placed it on the neatly made bed and with that he left the room in search of the mess hall. As Mayne walked down the corridors of the _Infinity_ there was an odd silence that seemed deafening. Aside from the quiet moan of the engines and the occasional cough or sneeze from an early bird marine, the only sound reaching Mayne's ears was the repetitive _thunk, thunk, thunk,_ of his combat boots on the hard grey floor and the occasional rumble of his stomach which led Mayne to pick up his pace, his brain could wait for food but his stomach was begging for it.

The Mess Hall was a large room filled with long steel tables that could easily be commandeered by well over thirty marines at any one time. Today the tables were all but bare save for a small group of marines at the end of one of the many tables. Mayne could almost see the aroma of sausages and bacon waft past his nose and he let his stomach guide him to the nearest counter where a plate of bacon, sausages and baked beans were slammed down in front of him on a stainless steel mess plate. After plucking a pair of utensils from a container he sat down at the far end of the table, as far away from the other marines as possible. After his failed mission, Mayne barely spoke to anyone.

Hell, just having a full conversation with another marine was as rare as surviving a plasma grenade to the chest.

Seeing the marines on the far side of the table made Mayne's heart drop for a moment, those marines looked to be great friends, they were laughing and occasionally one would punch another on the shoulder. The only problem is that had the war between the humans and Covenant still been going, most of those marines would likely be dead by the next morning. Those marines that survived would likely move on and meet new people and make new acquaintances and then see them die as well. After seeing so much death on the battlefield Mayne couldn't bare to make new friends only to see their eyes glaze over as a shaft of plasma bites deep into their chest or a sword run through them. The death of his friends and almost himself, each by the same energy blade had been the last straw for the battle hardened ODST.

Mayne felt a presence appear by his side and turned to see what had approached him. The shock trooper saw it to be one of the marines from the far side of the table, the young man had left his friends and he walked over to the lone ODST. Mayne felt all emotions naturally fall away and a small scowl showed upon his face.

"G'day mate, noticed that you were all by your lonesome over here and I'm wondering if you wanted to join me and me mates. Its always fun to meet an ODST." The young marine asked in very prominent Australian accent, clearly oblivious to the range of emotions erupting beneath the surface of the ODST. Mayne remained quiet and instead of responding he turned a shoulder to the man and picked at his breakfast, hoping the man would just move on. The innocent marine seemed not to notice and pushed forward,

"That's an awesome pattern on your helmet mate, maybe we all should do something like that on our armour." The UNSC soldier commented and this time Mayne did respond.

"That mark has a meaning to it and there is no way in hell you would understand it. Now will you please do me a favour a fuck off!" Mayne snapped hard at the marine. The marine flinched at the attack from his supposed ally but before he left he had his own retort.

"No wonder your all alone mate, no respect, not a shred of kindness. I'm surprised that your teammates can stand you, if you even have teammates, that is. Only a madman would work with you!" The marine's words cut like a knife. Mayne's shoulders tensed and a deep rage boiled inside him. How dare he mention his team, the ignorant man doesn't know anything about what happened! In his anger Mayne almost turned and punched the man with a gloved fist.

Almost.

Instead Mayne let his shoulders drop and he turned stiffly back to his meal. He hated being aggressive and cruel but it was the only way to keep people away.

Seeing the ODST had nothing to say and was deep in thought, he scoffed and walked back over to his group. Mayne watched the marine sit down and begin conversing with his friends again, he noticed that the group would occasionally throw a cold glare in his direction. Mayne ignored them and finished what was left of his meal and as he picked up his dish and moved to the wash station he kept his eyes down and away from the marines. He could feel their piercing stares bore into his back and considered apologising but in the end he just walked with heavy feet out of the Mess and back to his room.

Upon entering his room Mayne fell heavily onto his steel cot, not caring that he put wrinkles through the perfectly smooth sheet. The idea of going back to sleep and making the morning disappear seemed like a great one until a red flashing light on his data pad indicated that he had just under an hour to reach hanger five.

With a huff the ODST lurched up and straightened his sheets and hauled his duffle bag and Battle Rifle upon his shoulders but as he walked out the door he paused and walked back in.

 _I'll bring 'them' along._ He thought. Mayne went back to his draw and retrieved the photo of his team. Before placing it in his duffle bag he took a long glance at it and he felt salty tears spring to the corners of his eyes.

 _"Hey, Lucky get in here you dud, we're getting a photo," Called Sarah Kyte, Mayne ran from the dead Sangheili carcass and over to the group of ODSTs beginning to arrange themselves in amusing and childish poses. A wide grin spread across his face as he levelled himself next to Henry Whetherman and raised his fingers in a bunny sign above his head. The camera snapped a shot of the team and the soldiers rushed over to see the end result._

 _Henry punched Mayne hard on the shoulder,_

 _"The hell you stick the fingers above my head?!" He growled menacingly but a smile breaking his lips proved the opposite emotion._

 _"OH deal with it you big man." Mayne shot back._

 _"Lucky, you better frame that and hang it in our room." Claire Novell ordered jokingly,_

 _"Yes General, your wish will be my mission!" Mayne poked fun at the Lance Corporal._

 _"Alright people enough fun, we've got a pelican to get to. Let's mount up and get the hell outta here!" Sergeant Avery Brown ordered and the ODSTs replaced their helmets, checked their ammunition supplies and rushed towards the waiting M12 Reconnaissance Warthogs._

Mayne wiped the tears away and placed the framed photograph into his duffle bag. And then once satisfied he had everything he closed the door to his room and trudged sadly towards the Hanger.

Mayne turned a corner and almost walked straight into Sergeant Catherine Myers and the rest of Fireteam Phoenix.

"Nice of you to show up, Corporal. Jump in with us and it'll make us look better if we entered all at the same time, as a team." Mayne thought he could hear the added stress on the last word and hesitated, everything in his body told him to reject the offer but the steely woman's next words put a stop to those thoughts. "Don't make it an order, Corporal." Accepting his fate the ODST fell in step with the Fireteam but not before being fired upon by Gabriel Hudson.

"Look at his armour guys, its got pretty red patterns on it, maybe we should colour ourselves yellow and call our selves-" The words were cut off when Catherine shoved her face millimetres from his and snarled,

"Do you want that shotgun of yours to disappear up your ass? Shut it or I will let Alexander over there do it personally. He's one of us now so deal with it or get out of my team." The barley contained anger seeped from Catherine mouth and the Corporal let his eyes drop to the floor and said nothing.

"Alright, lets move!" She concluded and the now complete Fireteam moved at a quick jog towards the nearby hanger.

Reesha 'Moram stood at the gangplank like entrance to the Lich, observing the final packing of supplies and armaments into the alien craft. A large human force of about three hundred strong had assembled close by and she could see the mechanics making last minute repairs or adjustments to the numerous troop deployment vehicles they called a pelican and human soldiers carrying large crates presumably filled with equipment and munitions into the cargo bays. She couldn't help but also notice a row of reconnaissance vehicles and even a few assault tanks lined up beside the moving ocean of green armoured humans. Unlike the Sangheili Type-26 Assault carriage nicknamed 'Wraths', the human tanks had much thicker armour and produced from their rotating heads a long intimidating barrel that fired shells in a linear fashion unlike the wrath's angled catapult-like firing system. "They will be of great assistance alongside her own vehicles and soldiers when the fighting began, assuming the humans could fire accurately." Reesha thought.

The dark armoured elite shook her head and smiled sadly, the humans were always a force to be reckoned with, they would have made valuable allies. It only took the murder of hundreds of her species by the hands of the Jiralhanae to realise it. She and her fellow brothers in arms had finally realised what it was like for the humans but Reesha would never be able to comprehend the pain humanity felt after experiencing genocide for over 25 years.

Shaking clear her mind Reesha saw a human she recognised from the meeting detach from a group of officers and walk up to her, even though he was largely built for a human, the man looked to be in his later years with a bald head and dressed in a suit of green body armour he was still a head smaller to other Sangheili and equal height with herself.

"Captain James Hendricks, Commander of the 24th Infantry Company. You must be Spec Ops Commander 'Moram?" The man offered a hand once he had reached the female Sangheili. Reesha took the hand in her own clawed hand and shook it, knowing that this form of greeting was a common one amongst humans.

"Yes, I am Reesha 'Moram, how may I assist you?" She responded politely.

"My Company is almost packed and ready to dust off, I assume you have a corvette waiting to pick us up? We have some heavy vehicles and our pelicans won't be able to hold them all the way to Sangheilios."

"I have the Arbiter's Corvette _Shadow of Intent_ commanded by Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum on standby to receive my response once all are ready, Captain." Reesha clarified reassuringly. She suddenly noticed a group of soldiers in matte black body armour approaching from behind Hendricks, seeing her attention behind himself Hendricks turned too.

"Ahh Fireteam Phoenix are here, about bloody time you lot." He finished gruffly, addressing the ODSTs with the last part of his sentence. The ODSTs came to a halt in front of herself and Hendricks and the lead woman saluted the Captain and herself.

"Fireteam Phoenix reporting in, Sir." She said curtly and formally. Reesha saw that the ODST at the back wore the same armour but with red patterns on the shoulders and helmet under his arm; Mayne. She looked for emotion in his green eyes and found none, nothing but an emotionless, neutral soldier, the perfect weapon. The other ODSTs had a social look about them but the lone ODST at the back looked bare and lonely, an outsider. Like herself when she entered the army.

Since birth, all Reesha had wanted to do was join the military like her brother before her but because she was a female her father was completely against it and her mother had no say as she died soon after her birth.

 _"The Covenant army is a males life, you are a female, Reesha 'Moramee, you can not compete with the might of males, your role in life is to find a mate who will give the family strong offspring and continue our line when I pass!" Reesha's father was almost fuming, but Reesha, being the stubborn adolescent she was always fought back._

 _"You have no consideration about what I want in my life! Mother would have supported me!" Reesha screamed and kicked open the woven door and marched away down the lush path towards the forest, away from the village and her father, tears flowing down her elongated face. Before she left she saw the rage and pain of her fathers face as she knew that the loss of her mother had always been a painful area of discussion._

 _But she didn't care, she wanted to join the mighty Covenant army and she would prove her father wrong. She could beat the 'mighty' males and show her father that she is as mighty as any of them._

Reesha never had any friends when she was younger. All the other females her age would stay at home and learn to weave and act like 'proper' Sangheili women or be out trying to seduce other young males. Reesha never learnt to do any of those things, she loved adventure and always wanted to fight in the Covenants ranks against any foe they faced. This is how she gained the attention of a Sangheili elder by the name of Zuze 'Wantak. As a retired military General 'Wantak only taught those who showed most promise. He taught Reesha's older brother and saw her fit to undertake his training. After she had completed her training she was gifted the crimson coloured energy sword she had attached to her leg.

Instinctively she grabbed hold of the blade handle and felt its grooves and bumps that she had felt hundreds of times before. Coming back to reality the saw that the humans had finished conversing and were readdressing her.

"Commander Reesha, may Fireteam Phoenix ride along with your team, I'm sure you will need to all get acquainted if you're all going to work together for the however long it takes for us to defeat the Covenant bastards, I can't wait to see the Covenant's ugly faces when they see us in the fight." Hendricks smirked.

"I concur with the human, the Covenant shall be surprised!" The voice came from behind Reesha and they all looked to see Zek approaching them.

"This is Major Zek, he is second in command." Zek pounded his fist on his chest once,

"It is an honour to fight alongside humans." He announced

"As it is an honour to fight alongside Sangheili." The lead woman of the ODST squad declared respectively. Reesha smiled and bowed slightly in the praise.

"We may work well together yet, humans. Let us board and be on our way!" She gestured for the fireteam to come aboard and they began to walk single file into the craft. As Mayne entered she couldn't help but gaze at his short cropped hair, well defined cheek bones and the green eyes that seemed to be the main feature of his face. The emotions that had played on his face so clearly at the meeting were still fresh in her mind and she was so confused as to why she wanted to find out, what made this human so interesting, what had happened to him to cause so much trouble within his mind. She noticed she was the only one standing outside the Lich and so she walked back into the purple lit interior and slammed the button to close the door.

Mayne sat down against one of the walls of the Lich and looked about curiously, the Lich was a double story craft with an energy lift in the centre that brought elites up and down. The level that he and his new team resided on was an open room that contained most of the elites on the craft, the purple walls lining the ship were classic for almost every Covenant craft.

"I guess the elites really like their purple." He chuckled to himself but unluckily for him, someone heard him.

"I'd say it suits them," Catherine sat down next to Mayne on the floor, dumping her duffle bag and rifle on the ground beside her and she began to take apart her magnum and clean it, more out of habit than of any actual significant reason, "Matches their armour." She laughed, Mayne did not laugh. Dropping her act the Sergeant got real.

"Look Mayne, I read your file and saw the recording from your helmet cam, that was some really messed up shit you had to witness and I'm sorry for your team, if that happened to my team I would be like you too." Mayne was about to retort but she kept going. She laid a hand on the ODST's arm, "But this is war Mayne, messed up shit happens and we have to deal with it and move on. We lost one of our guys, name was Willy. He was our closest friend and this is why the other two are giving you so much shit, they miss him so much. Look, our team needs a second in command and I want you to be that person." The last comment made Mayne pulled away from her hand like it was poisonous.

"I can't Sergeant. Number one reason being that I don't even want to be here, no offence but I would prefer to work alone and number two, I won't be able to lead the others, you've seen how they talk to me, it'll screw up the team's functionality. "

"Alright Mayne, Number one, drop the numbering shit. Number two, drop the ranks, we're all family here and number three, I've already spoken to Gabe and Ajax about this and they have allowed you one chance to be their two IC. Use this opportunity to gain their trust and friendship, we can make this team whole again and everything will work out."

Mayne stood up almost defeatedly, seeing no way out of this predicament.

"Ok, I'll be your second." He said and Catherine stood with him,

"Glad to have you onboard Mayne." She clasped his hand and shook it hard. As their hands parted they noticed Reesha drop from the gravity lift and walked briskly towards them.

"Apologies for any interruptions humans, we got a transmission from the _Shadow of Intent,_ one of our corvettes is under siege by a large Covenant Corvette. We are going to reach the _Shadow of Intent_ and then immediately jump to their location to assist in the battle. Ready your team and be ready to move."

"Yes Commander Reesha. Alright Mayne, like it or not we're going to be tested sooner than expected. I hope you're up to it." Mayne nodded in agreement but kept his eyes on the female elite before him, as he had noticed before the only word he could describe her was... Attractive? He shook his head to clear the thoughts. There was going to be a fight ahead and he needed to be ready for it.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone and I'm back with the next chapter to Halo:AOR. This chapter was a bit challenging to write but I managed it and hopefully you all enjoy it. I just want to say that OMG, this story has almost reached 1000 views, I am completely over the moon and can't be more happy to see so many people just clicking on my story, especially because it's my first one! I really just want to thank everyone for reading even just one chapter and I hope that this story may grow to better heights!

Reviews:

guest: Glad to see you enjoy my story! I have every intention of finishing this story, even if it takes me a very very long time.

Giggle MeYumYums: Here's the next chapter for you! Also the Swords may mean something later in the story (hint hint) :)

Anyway, Lets get into it!

* * *

 **Location: Corvette** _ **Shadow of Intent**_

 _ **Date:**_ **21** **st** **February 2558**

 **Time: 0800 hours**

The docking routine with the _Shadow of Intent_ was a quick and organised one. The rumble Mayne felt beneath his feet and the hissing of slightly better quality recycled air rushing into the compartment signalled that their Lich had passed the energy barrier that separated the corvette's hanger from the vast expanses of space. Once they touched down the gangway lowered and the humans and Sangheili disembarked. The hanger of the Sangheili vessel looked much like the hanger of a small UNSC frigate except that all the walls were a shade of purple and instead of humans running around, Mayne noticed that Sangheili were rushing about assisting their new comrades in unloading their supplies and munitions.

"Sergeant Myers, take Phoenix and help unload the pelicans, Commander 'Moram and I are leaving to get our orders." Hendricks ordered and Catherine gave a single nod.

"Alright Phoenix, let's move!"

Mayne and Fireteam Phoenix along with the Sangheili Spec Ops team led by Zek dropped their bags and rifles by the Lich and moved to assist the first of the pelicans unload their payloads while Hendricks and Reesha went to get orders from Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum.

The team approached a middle aged Sergeant with a standard issue UNSC cap and a clean shaven face who was shouting orders and pointing soldiers in different directions.

"Sergeant, where do you need us?" Catherine asked loudly above the racket and the Sergeant said something but was drowned out by the roar of the engines of another pelican tearing into the hanger, dropping a Scorpion tank and letting its occupants come streaming out of the troop compartment. The Sergeant cupped his hands to his mouth raised his voice.

"We need your team and those Hingeheads to help unload Pelicans two and three, we need to make room for the other Pelicans to land!"

Knowing that speaking was futile over the deafening roar of the pelicans, Catherine delivered a thumbs up and gave the advance hand signal to the mixed team of humans and elites. The elites not knowing such hand signals were slow to react but followed once the ODST's started running towards the nearest Pelicans.

Reesha and Hendricks walked at a quick pace towards the gravity lifts that would transport them to the bridge. On multiple occasions Reesha saw that her human companion was hesitant at times when groups of Sangheili would pass them so decided to try to ease the human's nervousness.

"For what amount of time have you contributed to your kind's military?" She asked casually, looking down at her slightly smaller companion.

"Almost lost track of that, gotta' be a good thirty years, joined when I was only a lad, eighteen years old." He replied in his gruff voice, "Thought I'd fight the Innies, did for a little while but then you lot come along and then I got a real taste of combat." A hint of admiration crept onto his face as he looked towards the female elite and she realised the human captain was giving her species a small amount of praise.

Reesha dipped her head with gratitude.

"The Humans are a very unique race and the only one that could stand for so long against the Covenant, I speak not only for myself but for many other Sangheili when I say this but your species has earned the respect of the Swords of Sangheilios." Hendricks nodded his head in acknowledgment of the praise. It wasn't often that a Sangheili would praise another warrior that isn't their own.

All further conversations were cut short as they entered the bridge and approached the white armoured Sangheili waiting for them. The Sangheili had a recognisable injury to his mandibles that Reesha could recognise anywhere. She pumped her fist to her heart and Hendricks followed suit and Rtas 'Vadum responded in such.

"Commander 'Moram," He cast a piercing look at the human who clarified for him.

"Captain James Hendricks, Shipmaster." He said respectively.

"Welcome aboard, Captain James Hendricks. Come, we have much to discuss and not a long of time to discuss it."

Unloading had been smoothly coordinated and it seemed to Mayne that the Sangheili and their human allies worked very efficiently and without conflict. Now with the manual labour out of the way Mayne was able to see what they had for use. Three Pelicans had been left to one side of the hanger and many of the weapons, food, extra clothing and materials to build a field base were stored away in the large storage rooms around the corvette. Mayne could see that along with the vehicles owned by the Swords of Sanghelios, the humans also had an intimidating force to be reckoned with. They had an assortment of M12 reconnaissance Warthogs with ferocious looking chainguns mounted in the rear that fired armour piercing bullets at extremely high speeds, two-person M274 All-Terrain Mongooses and even a few M808B Scorpion Main-Line Battle Tanks.

Mayne had been seated on an ammunition container going through the repetitive action of sliding round after round into each magazine that he carried for his Battle Rifle. The rhythmic clicking sound of bullets sliding into place gave Mayne some sort of satisfaction and he almost failed to see Gabriel and Ajax sit opposite him and begin cleaning and preparing their own weapons. The three worked in silence, only accompanied by the sounds of bullets clicking and the occasional squeak of a piece of equipment being moved or adjusted. Gabriel suddenly put his shotgun down on the ground and leaned towards Mayne,

"Alright newbie, let's get this straight. Yes, I agreed to let you be our Two IC because Cat wanted us to work together and I'm doing what's best for the team, that does not mean that I like you or want you to be here at all." He stated bluntly.

Mayne looked around for Catherine but couldn't spot her anywhere. Looks like he'll have to deal with it himself.

"I don't care what you think, just don't get me killed." Mayne retorted and went back to filing ammo into his magazines, hoping to end the conversation right there.

"Lay off him, Gabe. We have to work together now if we're going to make it through this." Groaned Ajax in a deep voice but Gabriel wasn't finished.

"It won't be me that gets you killed, it'll be you and your lone ass that'll do it. You don't belong with us."

"Come on Gabe, Fuck off." Ajax growled threateningly and not looking to get into a fight with an fellow soldier a whole head taller than himself Gabriel stood and glared angrily at Mayne before storming off to a different place to prepare his weapons. "Listen Mayne, we had a hard time trying to get over the guy that died in your place and it'll just take Gabe time to come around. I'm sorry about speaking against you at the meeting, we need to work together now or we all die."

"Agreed Ajax, we could all probably work on our team skills." Mayne agreed and went back to the rhythmic clipping of bullets into magazines.

"With a bit of work, I'm sure we could turn this into a permanent thing." Said the large ODST. Mayne remained silent.

Mayne felt a slight change in the floor beneath him and looked out the hanger shields to see the stars suddenly lengthen. They had entered slipspace. Mayne decided that it felt weird that the process of going into slipspace was so smooth, but it was far better than the jolting and roughprocess of any UNSC vessel.

"Alright ODSTs we're in slipspace and most likely about to make contact with the Covenant soon so I want you ready ASAP." Catherine ordered as she appeared beside Mayne. Gabriel came back over to the group and all three of the ODSTs nodded and made their final checks. Next came Reesha and Hendricks. The grizzled Captain ordered the platoon officers off to the side and gave his orders to them while Reesha approached Fireteam Phoenix.

"Rtas 'Vadum has informed us that the friendly corvette under attack is unable to use its engines as they have been damaged beyond repair. Our plan is to board the Covenant corvette and eliminate the Shipmaster and operators so our brethren may use it to reach Sanghelios." By now the Elite Spec Ops team had arrived as well to listen to the mission and each Elite rumbled in support of the mission.

"Sounds good to us." Catherine said and Mayne nodded.

The Sangheili-Human team boarded the same Lich used to get them to the _Shadow of Intent_ followed by four squads of marines and they waited for the _Shadow of Intent_ to drop out of slipspace. A sudden jolt told them they were back in normal space and the Lich's engines roared to life.

"Let us go pilots!" Ordered Reesha and the Lich began to lift off. Mayne slammed his helmet onto his head, watched to make sure all HUD systems were fully operational and did a final weapons check. Looking out the view ports he could see their friendly Corvette in flames and billowing purple smoke out the back of the engines. Seeing the Covenant Corvette Mayne noticed there was little to no damage done to the outer hull and it was firing salvo after salvo of plasma bombardments at the allied Corvette and the space was filled with Type-27 Space Banshees clashing in dogfights or bombing the Corvettes.

"We need to get in there quick or that Corvette isn't going to stay together." Mayne called and Reesha nodded,

"Agreed, pilots, get us directly to the main hanger of the Covenant Corvette!" She called and the pilots acknowledged, angling the Lich to enter the Covenant hanger. One of the Corporals walked towards the ODSTs.

"You guys know your part?" Catherine and Mayne nodded,

"What's your job in all this, Corporal?" Catherine asked.

"Keeping control of the Hanger so no hostiles can cut off our entrance point or cut off any reinforcements." Catherine nodded approvingly.

"You'll be fine Corporal, just keep our backside clear and things will go smoothly."

The voice of the pilot cut through the conversation,

"Prepare for landing!" The Sangheili called and Mayne made his way to the gangway. He knelt down beside the door and felt something nudge his shoulder, he turned and saw Ajax in his menacing looking ODST armour give him the thumbs up and level a SPNKR Rocket Launcher upon his shoulder. Catherine and Gabriel prepared themselves on the other side of the gangway, Gabriel inserting shells into his shotgun and Catherine removing the safety on her MA5 series Assault Rifle. Finally Reesha knelt down beside Mayne and unclipped the energy sword from her thigh. Her team readied themselves in front of gangway and prepared to charge out.

Mayne always felt an increase in his senses before going into battle, he could almost feel the rush of adrenaline levels rising as his body prepared itself for the intense activity he was about to put it through. He was so focused on his preparation that he almost failed to hear Reesha beside him,

"May fate favour you, ODST Mayne" She said and Mayne nodded,

"Same to you Commander Reesha." He replied simply and hit the safety on his rifle, " _Here we go._ " He thought. Mayne legs jolted suddenly as the Lich hit the ground.

The gangway began to lower and immediately the Sangheili lunged forward, led by Reesha, and hit the deck before the door had fully lowered, due to their shielding they took point to draw any fire away from the humans as they dashed out. The hanger was packed with Sangheili, Kig-Yar and Unggoy alike who put down a heavy layer of plasma upon the Lich. Mayne and Ajax slammed against a crate and begin to peek over and fire at any enemy in their sights. In quick succession Mayne took out four grunts and Ajax fired a missile the completely engulfed an elite and two jackals. Mayne spotted Reesha amongst the chaos and couldn't help but admire her skills as she bolted quickly from enemy to enemy, it surprised him to see that her energy sword was a vibrant red colour and realised how much it suited her style; fast and deadly. Mayne felt something off in his mind when he saw that coloured blade and felt the long scar down his body begin to heat up, not because he had seen that blade before but something similar to it. He shook his head and fired at an elite, taking down its shields and then ripping open its chest with two three round bursts.

Reesha dashed from foe to foe, the training from her mentor from so long again taking control of all her movements and clearing her mind of all but one thought; to kill. She dashed towards a Sangheili Major surrounded by two Unggoy and a Kig-Yar scavenger. The Sangheili sprayed her with hot plasma from his rifle but it only drained Reesha's shields to halfway before she was upon them. In a single movement she severed the heads from both Unggoy and followed through with a lunge at the Major's heart, the blade seared through both armour and flesh and the Sangheili fell to the deck with a gurgling cry. The remaining Kig-Yar made a feeble attempt to overcharge its plasma pistol but Reesha grabbed it by the throat and snapped its neck in a single twist, the plasma shot high up into the air and impacted with the ceiling.

Seeing she had time to make observation she checked to see how the Humans were holding up, she cast her eyes around and found that her gaze fell to Mayne. She saw a Sangheili rush him and was about to intervene when she saw the Human soldier jump clear of the crate he was using for cover and meet the enemy head on, dropping his rifle he grabbed the steel blade from his chest armour and ducked under a swing from the Sangheili before launching himself onto the back of the Covenant warrior and embedding the knife deep into its neck. She unconsciously nodded with approval,

" _This human truly knows how to fight, It would be an enjoyment to challenge him."_ Reesha thought before she turned back to the quickly dwindling forces of the Covenant.

Mayne sheathed his now bloodied knife and reacquired his rifle. He looked about the bloody hanger and saw that the Human-Elite force had gained a considerable hold of the vast room. He did notice that there were a few human bodies among the Covenant dead and felt a pang of sorrow. Those marines had technically finished fighting in this godforsaken war and should have gone home to their families but were called back to the front lines where they would once again shed their blood for humanity's future. The fighting had nearly finished and the last of the Covenant defenders were being mopped up.

"Hey ODST!" Came a voice behind him along with a tap on the shoulder, it was the young marine from the mess hall earlier that morning. His face was a little bloodied but he had a beaming smile on his face and shining eyes. "Haha! It is you mate, from the mess this morning. We kicked the Covie's arses just then didn't we!" He grinned broadly. From the look in his wide eyes and slightly enlarged pupils the marine's body was shot full of adrenalin and seemed to put everything that had happened that morning behind him. Mayne couldn't hold a cold towards this young gleeful marine and cracked a small smile behind his helmet before hitting the young marine on the back.

"That we did private, well done." He cheered slightly but was cut off as a beam of energy suddenly struck the marine's head and he dropped to the deck with a scream. With a small cry of anguish Mayne looked to where to shot came from. A small Covenant team had advanced into the hanger from a alternate route and a Jackal among them with a beam rifle had shot the unsuspecting marine. Feeling his blood boil Mayne raised his battle rifle and dispatched the jackal with a single well placed burst to the head and let the marines finish off the Jackal's companions.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Mayne yelled as he bent down to check the deceased marine. The beam had past right through his skull and blood was oozing out along with small segments of brain matter. "There was nothing you could you Mayne." Came Catherine's voice as she walked up beside him. "He's just another casualty of war."

"He was a fucking kid!" Mayne growled, "He didn't deserve this. I should have noticed that team entering, I should have seen the Jackal!"

"Stop beating yourself up Mayne, stay focused, we have a job to do." Catherine stated and walked away, leaving Mayne to stare at the young private. That was the most open he had been since his team and now the kid was dead, just like all the other people he opened up to.

"Mayne, get over here!" He heard Ajax call from across the hanger where he and the rest of the Spec Ops team were. Mayne cast one last look at the marine, the kid's eyes were wide and unmoving. Mayne leant down and closed the marine's eyes with his fingers.

"Rest well kid." He muttered before hefting his battle rifle up and jogging over to his waiting team.

"Looks like our losses were minimal and we can afford to leave the marines to guard this hanger." Catherine said as Mayne came to halt with the group.

"Excellent, then we must move quickly if we are to take control of this vessel before it destroys our own." Reesha decided and everyone nodded. Zek hit the controls on the main doors and they slid open soundlessly.

"This way, comrades!" He called and led the way as the Human-Sangheili team ran down the long winding hallways. They encountered minimal resistance and quickly dealt with any Covenant force they encountered. It wasn't until they reached the gravity lift that spanned throughout the corvette that Reesha suddenly paused.

"Wait Humans." She said and the team stopped in their tracks before entering the transport lift. Reesha hit a small button on her helmet which put her communications on loud speaker.

" _Commander Reesha, our scans are picking up human signals onboard that corvette and they aren't from the assault force._ " Came the voice of Rtas 'Vadum, slightly statically over Reesha's helmet speakers.

"They have human prisoners?" Catherine asked, "Where are they?"

 _"Lower levels of the corvette. The holding level._ " Rtas responded. Reesha switched off the helmet speakers.

"I'll move to the lower level to free the Humans, I cannot stand a stain upon the honour of our new allies!Zek, take charge and eliminate the Shipmaster." Reesha ordered and Zek saluted,

"Of course, Commander."

"Mayne, go with her. The marines will need to know that the Commander is on our side." Catherine instructed and Mayne nodded.

Reesha and Mayne stood back as the team stepped in one at a time and quickly zipped off along the gravity lift.

After all soldiers had entered the lift Reesha tapped some commands into the console beside it.

"Let us go." She said and stepped into the lift. Mayne stepped into the lift shortly after and felt his body get pulled along. When Mayne reached the exit point of the lift he was confronted with the bodies of two Sangheili and Reesha deactivating her blade.

"You've been busy." Mayne said dryly.

"They wouldn't let me pass." Reesha smirked, "Let's keep going."

The pair cautiously jogged down the corridor towards the door at the other end. At this level of the corvette the lights were more dim and a small blanket of mist covered the floor, giving the area an eerie atmosphere. Once they got to the door Reesha held a clawed hand up telling Mayne to pause.

"Beyond this door are the holding cells, the guards are minimal but stay alert." Reesha instructed and the ODST gave the thumbs up which caused Reesha to look up to the ceiling, "What are you pointing at?" She asked.

Mayne shook his head and almost let out a huge laugh that would have surely given their position away.

"Never mind, it's just a human gesture of understanding." He clarified and Reesha nodded thoughtfully,

"Interesting." She said and then hit the door controls. The doors glided open to a large room with prison cells on either side with light purple energy shields that would prevent anyone held within from breaking out. Within each cell was a marine, their armour stripped from them and they wore nothing but the camouflage fatigues they wore under their armour. Ahead of the pair were two Sangheili and six Unggoy. The Sangheili stood by a holographic console and the Unggoy trudged up and down the cells, probably thinking that they were helping in some way. Both species stopped and looked at the Human and Sangheili as the door opened. Almost in sync Mayne and Reesha ran forwards, Mayne dropped to his knee a few metre into the room and with three quick bursts of his battle rifle three grunts lay on the deck with splats of fluorescent blue blood on the floor beside them.

Reesha activated her energy sword and leapt over the holographic console to confront the two Sangheili. She slashed with her blade at one of the warriors and managed to cut across its chest armour as it attempted to evade, causing it to crash to the ground with a pained growl. She turned immediately and just in time as the second Covenant warrior swung down with its own energy sword. Reesha grabbed hold of the clawed hand of her assailant as it came down, stopping the blade just centimetres from her face, so close that she could feel a burning sensation from the heat. In response she lashed out with her own sword but the Sangheili intercepted her arm with his own spare hand. Locked in a fight for dominance the two Sangheili twisted and turned to try and gain an advantage over the other. Being biologically less muscular than the male Sangheili opposing her, Reesha found that the male was beginning to push his blade further towards her face but being a male had its own disadvantages as Reesha shoved her knee up into the crotch of the other Sangheili. The Saurian snarled in pain and weakened his grasp on Reesha hand which gave her the opportunity to bring the searing red blade down in the Sangheili's head. Thinking that she was done with both Sangheili she holstered her blade but heard a cry from across the room.

"Watch out Reesha!" Mayne shouted but it was too late as when she turned she was barrelled over by the first Sangheili she had supposedly killed before. She slammed into the wall and the Sangheili was upon her.

"You will die Heretic, and you will never proceed with the Great Journey!" He raised he sword and Reesha closed her eyes in preparation from her demise. The excruciating pain and certain death never came as a gurgled cry made Reesha open her eyes again to see a steel blade producing from the throat of the Sangheili and blood dripping from his mandibles. The Saurian collapsed to the side and standing before her was Mayne.

After killing the grunts, Mayne focused his sights on the Elites at the console deep in engagement with Reesha. He saw her strike one down before she locked arms with the second and attempted to fight for control. Mayne aimed his sights at them but couldn't take a shot in fear of hitting Reesha so instead he watched nervously to see which Elite came out victorious. He felt an odd ecstatic feeling in his chest when Reesha sliced her opponents head and instantly his mind questioned the emotion.

" _She killed an Elite, so what. Why am I feeling like this?"_ Mayne wasn't able to continue this line of thought as he saw the first elite he thought was dead stand up, seeing the flare of it's shielding he knew a single burst from his rifle would kill it and so levelled his aim on the alien.

He pulled the trigger,

 _Click._

He pulled again quickly,

 _Click, Click_

"Fuck!"

Panic rose in Mayne's chest as he threw the gun down and began sprinting towards the unsuspecting Spec Ops Commander.

"Watch out Reesha!" He shouted but knew it was going to be too late for her to react. The Sangheili slammed the female Sangheili into the wall and activated it's energy sword. Mayne saw Reesha close her eyes in anticipation for death.

" _Not today!"_ Mayne ripped his combat knife from its sheath and jammed it into the neck of the Sangheili, killing it instantly. The energy sword deactivated and fell from the Elite's grasp and it toppled to the side. Mayne bent down slightly and held out his hand.

"You ok, Commander?" He asked. He had never felt this way towards seeing a fellow soldier almost die.

The only people he felt this much for was his team.

"Yes I am ok." Reesha took Mayne's hand and he pulled with all his might to help her get up. Once up Reesha looked back at the place where she was almost killed.

"I was surely destined to die there," She looked back to Mayne, "But because of you I am able to live, for that I owe you a debt of honour Mayne."

Suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable that he had opened so much to this Elite he was glad to hear the whimpering of the last three grunts that remained. He looked towards the corner of the room where the small aliens were cowering and walked to where his battle rifle was lying on the floor. He picked it up, slammed a new magazine into place and pointed it at the grunts and with a squeal they bolted for the door. They didn't even make it half way before Mayne imbedded them with bullets.

Reesha moved to the console where she deactivated the shields and the marines wandered out.

"Marines, we're here to break you out." Mayne greeted them and one marine stepped forward, an impromptu leader Mayne assumed.

"Alright, first of all how the hell did you get here and can we trust that Hinge-head over there?" The marine snapped, glaring at Reesha who huffed and walked away to seek out their exit. Mayne felt an urge to punch the man but realised that it would be unfair as these marines looked to have been imprisoned for a very, very long time.

"Look we don't have long to get out of here, just know that Humanity has formed an alliance of sorts with a Sangheili faction called The Swords of Sanghelios. We are currently conducting an operation with the Swords so yes, they can be trusted."

"But...What...When?" The soldier looked shocked.

"Just shut up and follow me." Mayne snapped and the marines moved into action, scavenging plasma weapons from the recently deceased covenant soldiers.

Mayne's COMMs crackled to life,

" _Phoenix 2 this is Phoenix 1, we've taken the bridge. How's it going with you?"_ It was Catherine.

 _"_ Objective complete Phoenix 1, marines have been freed and we'll be moving back to the hanger" Mayne replied.

 _"Alright, good work Phoenix 2, Phoenix 1 out."_ The crackling of the COMMs suddenly cut off as Catherine signed off.

Reesha reappeared at the door.

"The way is clear, did you hear that the others have eliminated the Shipmaster and operators?" She asked and Mayne nodded, "Then we should move now."

"Agreed. Marines, fall in behind me." He ordered and the marines wordlessly fell in step behind Mayne as they set off to their rendezvous point.

On the way they met a Covenant squad consisting of a Sangheili and three Unggoy and with the combined force of marines, Mayne and Reesha they killed the Sangheili rapidly and peppered the grunts with plasma and bullets. In the fight only one marine was hit by a stray plasma bolt in the leg and so was carried by two marines. They arrived back at the hanger to see Fireteam Phoenix and Reesha's team sitting in a group sharing a laugh and congratulating each other on a successful first mission together as a team. A couple of combat medics ran over and took the marines off Mayne and Reesha's hands.

"Thanks you two, we've been stuck here for far too long and at least now we may be able to see our families again." The leader said gratefully as he was moved away by a medic to receive medical attention. The injured marine was quickly lowered onto a portable stretcher and was carried away and the other marines waved at the pair as they too were escorted to find medical aid. Mayne felt his spirits lift slightly but then his vision drifted to the bodies that were aligned on the floor some metres away and he thought of that young marine that had died directly in front of him.

He never even got to know his name.

" _He's just a casualty of war."_ No, he's not just a casualty. He's human being who never deserved to die so prematurely. Mayne could feel a cold shell beginning to form itself around him and began to think back to his team. Was that what they were to the UNSC now? Just casualties of war, words on paper, numbers on lists, completely expendable and utterly forgettable?

Not to Mayne they weren't, he remembered their faces, their personalities, their likes and dislikes, he remembered everything about each and every single one of them and now he felt that he could add that young marine to his list.

Reesha stood beside Mayne as he looked over the bodies of the dead. Unlike the humans, the Sangheili didn't have any casualties and so there would be no need to mourn the death of any of her brothers.

"Mayne, how are you feeling?" She asked cautiously and the ODST seemed to jump slightly, almost like he was jolted from a world of his own. He turned his reflective visor to face her.

"I'm feeling fine Commander." He replied, his voice monotone, "Let's just get back to the Shadow of Intent." He went to walk away and Reesha suddenly had the urge to reach out and grab his shoulder to stop him.

"Did you lose a friend today?" She asked and Mayne paused and without turning around he responded.

"Maybe, I don't think I'll ever know."

 **Location: Corvette** _ **Shadow of Intent**_

 **Date: 21** **st** **February 2553**

 **Time: 1740 hours**

Back on the Corvette, Mayne sat on his cot that was set up by the UNSC personnel that didn't take part in the assault of the Covenant corvette. He was stationed in a room along with the rest of Fireteam Phoenix. He and the rest of the team changed into a pair of fatigues and we sitting down together on Catherine's command to do a debrief of the battle they just fought.

"Mayne, how did the prison raid go with the Commander?" She asked.

"Encountered minimal resistance and managed to free the marines, and didn't take a single fatality as we got back to the hanger, although one marine was wounded." He reported, he had to be brief and to the point, this information was to go to Hendricks afterwards so he could write up a mission report.

"And how was it working with Commander Reesha?" Mayne thought for a moment.

"We worked together smoothly, if the Captain wants to know if we work well with the Elites I believe that we do." This earned a scoff from Gabriel,

"So you work well with them and not us, is that what I'm hearing." He jeered and as Mayne was about to retort he felt a vibration from his pocket and so pulled out his data pad and it was a message from Hendricks.

 **Sender: Captain James Hendricks**

 **Receiver: Corporal Mayne Alexander**

 **message start**

 **Corporal, Spec Ops Commander Reesha 'Moram has requested that you meet her at the arena by 1800 hours. Reason unknown.**

 **message finish**

"Who's it from?" Ajax asked.

"The Captain, he wants me to go to the arena." Mayne responded, "I have no idea what it's about but it involves Commander Reesha." He checked the time on his UNSC issued watch,

 _5:43pm, 1743 hours._ Mayne didn't have too long to get there.

"Good luck Mayne," Catherine said, "I'll forward your report to the Captain."

Mayne thanked her and quickly got changed into his PT gear, he had no idea what he was to expect.

" _What the hell is this about?_ " He thought to himself as he walked from the room.

* * *

And that's all for this chapter, it was a huge write for me but I hope its all worth it!

stay tuned for the next chapter and please drop a follow/favourite and a review, it means a lot to me to hear from my readers and to know that my writing is liked. Your follows and reviews are also what keeps this story alive, to know that my writing is liked gives me inspiration to continue writing!

I'll catch you all in the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Location: Corvette** _ **Shadow of Intent**_

 **Date: 21** **st** **February 2558**

 **Time: 1740 hours**

Mayne trudged down the long hallways of the _Shadow of Intent_ with the image of the young marine that had ceased to exist directly in front of him plastered in his mind, what must his friends be thinking, what were they doing to mourn his death.

Maybe they didn't care.

" _Maybe they are getting to know their new team member."_ Mayne thought sourly. He passed many marines on the way to the arena, some would greet him, others would simply walk by. Mayne never acknowledged them nor spoke a greeting. After a few wrong turns he arrived at the arena, immediately spotting that it contained the same basic aspects of any exercise facility on a UNSC vessel; there was an elevated combat space in the middle of the room, weight equipment in one area of the room and on the other side of the room stood levitating bags, the Sangheili's equivalent of a punching bag Mayne assumed. He also saw that the humans had brought some other their own work out equipment along and had set up their own weight systems in a separate part of the room.

Mayne noticed a figure standing in the middle of the room, on the combat floor. Even without the armour, in only in a training combat suit, he could still see that it was Reesha 'Moram. Aside from her there were only a few other individuals in the room, a small group of Sangheili using a large set of weights and a group of marines doing bench presses. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that they were silently competing against each other, both races wanting to prove that they were stronger. The Sangheili were always the stronger race but Mayne concluded the humans would always be the most stubborn.

Mayne approached Reesha on the elevated arena with a small idea of what was going to happen.

"Greetings Mayne, how are you fairing after the battle?" She asked.

"I'm doing fine Commander." Mayne replied rather bluntly. Reesha continued despite her Human comrade's dismissive behaviour. She had seen this before in many Sangheili who had lost one of their brethren and she knew just the thing to help them.

"Do you know why I requested your presence here?" A small shake of Mayne's head was Reesha's que to expand. She began to pace around the ring. "Mourning the death of a brother in arms is something we all must do, regardless of race. Others are able to accept their comrade's death quickly but others dwell on the past too often and are unable to move past it."

Mayne felt his mind drift to Fireteam Chaos and the members of it; Novell, Brown, Whetherman, Kyte. The four people he considered his closest friends. He chuckled sadly to himself at the truthfulness of Reesha's reasoning.

"Yeah I know what you mean." He sighed, _You don't even know half of it._

"A technique that Sangheili use to release the emotion held within is to fight in single combat with another combatant. By fighting we are forced to push those dark emotions to the back of our mind and focus on what is happening at that moment. I believe that the best thing for you at this point in time is to take your mind off everything so I, Reesha 'Moram, challenge you to a duel in single combat."

Mayne shrugged his shoulders,

"What makes you think I can face you in single combat? You're a mighty Sangheili and I'm just a small, lowly human." Even when he said this he could feel the sides of his lips switching up a little into a smile.

"I observed you fighting a male Sangheili in the hanger of the Covenant Corvette and from that I believe that you are undoubtedly well enough to face me in single combat." Reesha replied, clearly not hearing Mayne's dripping sarcasm. By this point Mayne's smile was becoming evident, a friendly duel was always good fun, he had often had duels with his comrades and at least now he could possibly banish some of his pent up emotions.

"Well if there's no way of getting out of this then I, Mayne Alexander, accept your challenge. What are the rules?" Reesha walked towards the centre of the arena and Mayne approached her. They both halted just opposite each other. At this close distance Mayne could see Reesha's light blue eyes,

Cute eyes for a Sanghe- Mayne halted his thoughts like a Warthog hitting a brick wall. _What. The. Fuck! What the hell am I thinking?_ Mayne became vaguely aware that Reesha was explaining the rules.

"-aim is to hold the other combatant down for ten units or until they surrender. No weapons and all styles of combat are permitted. Are you ready Mayne?"

"Ready." Mayne confirmed and Reesha nodded before placing her clawed hand in a fist over her hearts in a Sangheili salute. Mayne responded in such, placing his own fist over his PT shirt and nodding his head in respect. Reesha smiled widely as she turned and walked to her end of the arena and Mayne did the same. Once both Sangheili and Human were ready the call was made to start the match

"Let us commence!" She called and almost instantly bolted forward in an attempt to catch Mayne off guard. The ODST of course was expecting this as he had witnessed the Sangheili's intense speed in the battle before hand and step sided the jab that was clearly aimed at his head. Next was a series of quick jabs from both Mayne and Reesha, each punch blocked by the opponent until one of Reesha's clawed hands made it past the ODST's defences and grabbed hold of his shirt. Mayne brought both his clenched fists down on Reesha's on arm in hopes of dislodging her grip but he found no such avail. The female Sangheili, despite not being as bulky and strong as her male counterparts still lifted Mayne up and with her other hand, threw him a few meters to crash on the padded floor, ripping his shirt slightly in the process. Completely winded Mayne lay still for a moment trying to catch his breath until he felt a weight upon his back and realised Reesha had placed her foot on his back preventing him for getting up. Mayne began to twist and turn to try to gain some sort of foothold in this losing battle. He managed to twist himself around to look up at her with her hoof placed firmly on his chest and his eyes suddenly opened wide with horror.

 _The towering elite placed one of its hoofs on Maynes chest and pushed down hard, Mayne heard a small crack that foretold the breaking of one of his ribs._

 _"Just kill me you bastard!" Mayne voice echoed in his head. The elite seemed to smile evilly._

 _"Oh I will you pathetic heretic, just as your allies before you." He spoke venomously_.

Mayne suddenly felt a rush in his blood and pushed with renewed strength against Reesha hoof and sent her reeling back. He quickly stood up and readied himself again, he shook his head to clear the vision and tried to steady his breathing.

"Are you well Mayne, you went still for a moment?" Reesha asked hesitantly.

"Yeah I'm good, lets keep going." Mayne growled, adrenaline pumping through his blood and he felt as if his heart was working at twice its optimal range. Now it was Mayne's turn to go on the offensive. He saw out of the corner of his eye that he and Reesha had gathered a crowed. The humans and Sangheili that had been using the workout equipment before had banded together to watch the duel and were cheering on their species' representative.

Mayne launched himself at Reesha, aiming a punch at her mandibles but then at the last minute attempted to kick her legs out from under her. The trick caught Reesha in the open and she tumbled down. Mayne wasted no time jumping on top of her to keep her down, he grappled with her arms and tried to hold them down while he locked his legs around her hips to stop her legs from lifting. During the entanglement he somehow managed to overpower her, he pushed her arms down beside her head and found himself only inches from her face. Mayne felt a smirk twitch at his lips as the seconds began to tick down but frowned when she simply smirked back, her mandibles coming together in an evil smile and her eyes seemed to have a dangerous shine.

 _Fuck, she let me do this._ Mayne groaned as Reesha easily pushed against his grip and shoved him off her. Mayne stumbled backwards, trying to regain his footing. Reesha stood and rushed Mayne again. After all the energy Mayne had to use in the previous engagements he found himself struggling to keep his arms in a poised defensive stance and his vision became slightly blurred due to the salty sweat dripping into his eyes. As the female Sangheili approached, Mayne drew all the strength he had for a final blow and extended his fist towards the rapidly approaching Sangheili. In his tired state Reesha easily evaded the fatigued punch and used his already forward momentum to place her own fist into his face with maximum force. Mayne suddenly felt all bodily sensations disappear as his vision instantly darkened as he crumpled to the ground. The last thing he felt before blacking out was the warm, iron taste of his own blood.

As soon as Reesha delivered the final blow she knew she had gone too far.

"Mayne!" She gasped as she bent down to help the poor ODST. Reesha ripped a piece of his PT shirt and used it to clear the blood that was pouring from his nose and mouth. She looked up towards the humans.

"Assist me!" She snapped and the marines quickly ran to help their unconscious ally.

 **Location: Unknown**

 **Date: Unknown**

 **Time: Unknown**

Mayne stood in a dark place, empty of everything except the blackness of nothing, no floor, no walls, no ceiling.

Nothing.

Mayne turned in a full circle trying to find anything apart from the eternal blackness that engulfed him. He attempted to raise his arms to feel for anything but found he couldn't raise his left arm, no matter how hard he tried he could raise it so he glanced down and cried out in shock. His left arm was snapped at the elbow and he had a huge searing gash running down from his shoulder to his lower rib. His armour was bloodied and his could see his cracked ribs beneath his armour.

 _No! Oh God no!_ Mayne felt his heart beating like a freight train and he squinted his eyes in preparation for the blinding pain that he was about to experience. After a few seconds he realised that he couldn't feel any pain.

 _What the hell is going on?_

Suddenly something alerted him, maybe it was a noise or maybe he just sensed it but nevertheless he turned to see some people standing in the distance. A smile instantly dawned on the soldier's face as recognition dawned.

"Oh my God, " Mayne started sprinting towards the group all thoughts of his injuries momentarily vanished, "Avery! Claire!" His run began to slow but his grin never faded, "Henry! Sarah!" His run became a jog. The soldiers he knew as his team; Avery Brown, Claire Novell, Henry Whetherman, and Sarah Kyte slowly turned to face him and only now did Mayne come to a shuddering halt. At this close of range Mayne could see that they all had macabre injuries and bloodied bodies. Brown had the hole in this neck that led him to choke on his own blood, Whetherman's chest showed the charred remnants of mortal plasma damage, Novell's forehead presented the impaling wound of an energy sword and Mayne could literally see right into the heart of his dear friend Kyte. Each of his friends stood with the wounds that ended their lives, facing Mayne with expressionless faces.

"Holy fucking shit!" Mayne yelled and attempted to rush to help his gruesome teammates but his legs stuck to the ground and as much as he tried to move them he couldn't make them budge. The people that were his friends silently turned away and began to walk in the opposite direction of Mayne.

"Guys please! Come on guys." He struggled to keep his voice steady as he begged for them to come back. "Please don't go..." His voice came as a whisper and gave up trying to follow them as they walked steadily into the distance. Mayne felt tears roll freely down his cheeks as he looked down at his ruined body. He began to feel his mind starting to fade and his vision began to blacken and it only took a couple of seconds for everything to disappear once again.

 **Location: Corvette** _ **Shadow of Intent**_

 **Date: 22** **st** **February 2558**

 **Time: 0827 hours**

Mayne's eyes slowly drifted open and he saw Catherine and Ajax standing on either side of the medical bed he was planted on.

"How' you feeling Mayne?" Catherine smiled gently. Mayne managed to take a glance around the room before responding. He was in the medical wing of the Shadow of Intent, a section of the ship where the sick, wounded and impaired personnel reside.

"I'm...I'm good. How did I end up here again?" Mayne asked and Ajax burst out with laughter.

"The gossip's already flooded through the marines, you got KO'd by the Special Ops Commander in a duel I hear. Its been the top story this morning." He cackled and even Catherine had to raise a hand to her mouth to cover up a smile, not at the story but at how comical Ajax's laugh sounded. The image of Reesha's fist entering his face suddenly rushed back to Mayne.

"Oh, I remember now." He grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. He thought he had the ability to take Reesha but for whatever reason she had the better outcome of the fight. "What time is it?"

"0827 to be exact." Catherine said after checking her standard issue watch. "You've been out for a good few hours. One of the medical staff who was monitoring you, an elite, mentioned that you cried out in your unconscious state and that's why we came, you woke up soon after we got here."

The memory of his bloodied friends flashed in Mayne's eyes,

"I don't remember anything." Mayne stated, knowing full well that answer was false. Catherine nodded.

"Oh well, in any case, we'll let you have a bit more time to recuperate, doc over there says that you had a concussion and shouldn't move for a while." When she said this Mayne looked to his right and saw a UNSC medical officer and an Elite, the officer wearing standard UNSC uniform but with a large red cross on his shoulder patches and the Elite wore a set of purple minor armour. Both doctors seemed to be having an intense discussion as at some points either doctor would raise their voice or make aggressive hand gestures.

The two members of Fireteam Phoenix left the room and Mayne lay for another two hours, eyes glued on the ceiling, determined not to fall asleep again for the thought of facing his friends again in a nightmare was too daunting. After what Mayne felt was an eternity the human doctor finally approached him.

"Now Corporal, I haven't seen you close your eyes for more than a second once in the last two hours and you look terribly bored." He pushed a pair of glasses positioned on his nose back up over his eyes. "So I've decided to give you the green light to leave and I recommend you go to the observation deck and sit for another hour or so to let the effects of the concussion wear off. The last thing you need is to try to do something physical and hurt yourself before you're properly healed."

Mayne sat up and hopped off the cot, he clenched his jaw as even the smallest bump caused bolts of pain to course through his head.

"I said take it easy, ODST." The doctor scolded him before leaving to assist another patient from the previous battle.

"Thanks Doc, I'll take it easy, promise." Mayne let out a weak smile and the medic just snorted. Deciding to follow the medic's recommendations Mayne found his way to the observation deck. A large room built into the bottom of the corvette that had panels surrounding everyone save the door. Inside were many seats and so Mayne chose one at random and planted himself on it. He winced as more pain pronounced itself as he sat down. He looked around and saw there was nobody else present in the room.

"Just one hour. I just gotta' sit here and stare out into space for one hour." He said to himself. After looking out into the darkness of slipspace Mayne found himself in a tranquil state, the pain in his mind slowly dissipated but still a throbbing sensation remained. After another few minutes but what seemed like hours Mayne felt a presence behind him.

"Greetings Mayne." Mayne turned to see the figure of a Sangheili.

"Hello Commander." Mayne returned with a small smile.

"Just Reesha is appropriate in private. May I join you?" She asked and gestured to the seat beside Mayne.

"You can if you want, there's nowhere else to sit anyway." He said sarcastically and Reesha looked briefly around the completely empty room.

"Perhaps I have inflicted more damage upon your mind than I originally thought." She said in a worried voice. Did she injure the poor human beyond the point where he is unable to identify reality around him? Mayne let out chuckle and slapped his forehead but instantly regretted it.

"Ow, fuck, I was being sarcastic Reesha." He half laughed half groaned. Reesha sat down beside him, even sitting down she was still a head taller than him.

"What is this sarcasm you speak of?" She questioned.

"Don't worry about it." Mayne smiled slightly.

"I apologise sincerely for harming you to that extent during our duel, I was caught in the moment and forgot that it was not a Sangheili I was fighting."

"It's alright Reesha, I'll take that as a compliment. I honestly thought I could beat you, especially when I managed to get you down." Reesha laughed at the end of Mayne's statement,

"A duel cannot conclude without a little humour, I thought it was bound to be amusing if I let you believe you had the upper hand on me."

Mayne chuckled and the pair fell into a silence for a few moments, staring out into the infinite space until Mayne broke the silence. "Reesha, it's occurred to me that you have been the only female Sangheili I have ever encountered. What's your story?"

Reesha looked to Mayne and thought for a moment before speaking.

"As you have probably known now the Covenant force is made up of mainly males but there have been a few female Sangheili present in the ranks of the Covenant. The females that are permitted to join the male filled ranks are never promoted to high statuses, always left without friends and in some cases have had males take advantage of them against their will." Reesha stood up now and began to pace. "I was born to a family of high distinguished military figures. My father was a Field Marshall and so was my greater father. As a female I was not raised in the common rooms like the males but instead with my father who took me into his care after my mother died giving birth to me. As a male, you were to be separated from your family and only to know your father after graduation into the Covenant Army, this allowed for all Sangheili to be equal during training. As a female I was urged to train in the arts of sewing and weaving, yes I was required to have a basic knowledge of combat but that was mainly reserved for the males." She paused and it was time for Mayne to speak briefly.

"Wow, how could you live with such a life, automatically being assigned to a duty based on your gender, not your abilities." He remarked and Reesha nodded enthusiastically.

"That is correct, our roles were chosen based on our gender but I showed my father and all others wrong when I excelled in basic combat training and was accepted as a student by the war veteran Mraha 'Wantak who taught me everything I know today. After years of his training and eventually convincing my father I was permitted to join the ranks of the Covenant. It was on my third cycle within the Covenant that I met Ceea 'Vukam, the only female I befriended."

Reesha's voice suddenly took on a lower, saddened tone.

"She was the closest thing I could call to a sister."

"What happened to her Reesha? If you don't mind me asking." Mayne asked.

"A group of males took advantage of her and murdered her afterwards. They took her to one of the lower levels of the Covenant's city of High Charity and took her honour before killing her and discarding her body." Reesha let her head droop down and Mayne suddenly felt horrible for asking to know.

"I'm sorry Reesha, if I had known this was such a sensitive topic I wouldn't have asked to know."

"I never became close with anyone after that incidence," She continued. "Even to this day the vision of her body in that corridor after I found her haunts me. It wasn't until I was assigned to a team that I met Zek. He never judged me or thought down on my abilities as a warrior. Infact he encouraged me and eventually, through years of fighting and battles I eventually gained the attention of the Arbiter; Thel 'Vadam, who gathered myself, Zek and a group of talented Sangheili and formed a Special Operations team that would act as his guard. Now I end up here, being his representative on this mission."

She sat back down next to Mayne, who was almost speechless, Through all the hardships of being a female Sanghelil she had prevailed and had even endured some of the same trials and misfortunes he had. She had lost the only friend she had, just as he had lost his.

 _But she's been able to move on, I just can't. No matter how hard I try, I can't make myself to move forward._

"What about your history Mayne, how did you become a soldier?" Reesha asked.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow, I have a bit to go over.**

firstly, sorry for the delay, I usually won't leave it this long but I've been very busy and just recently FF wouldn't work when I tried to upload a document so I had to wait until that was fixed.

secondly, I am completely blown out of the water by how many views I have on this story. It's reached over 3000 views and I am incredibly proud! I am also indescribably pleased with the amount of reviews, followers and favourites this story has gained after the last chapter and I am so thankful for all of you who decided to follow my work.

 **Thirdly, I have this idea about doing flashbacks at the start of each chapter for the next few chapters so I was wondering if I can get a little bit of feedback on that just to see what you guys want and how you want this story to progress.**

 **guest replies:**

 **Giggle MeYumYums:** we'll see how much you can predict of this story, you must have a lot of conspiracy theories haha. Regarding sex scenes I am not sure as of yet if I will write one, I am sure that everyone would love to see one and depending on responses I'll decide from there. Also, maybe you should consider creating a profile, I'll be able to respond almost immediately if you do.

 **OORAH:** Haha thanks for enjoying the story, I'm sorry to disappoint you but today is not the day. That will all come later and maybe it will be in Reesha's POV, I haven't decided yet.

Alright that's it from me. Please leave a review if you enjoyed and have any questions to ask. Other then that, enjoy!

* * *

 **Location: UNSC B Training Facility, Africa, Earth**

 **Date: 23** **rd** **September 2550**

 **Time: 0600 hours**

The morning was a hot one, even at six o'clock in the morning Mayne was already breaking a sweat as he exited the pelican along with the fifty other trainees. He dropped his duffle bag and paused only for a moment to look up at the large four-story building in front of him with the large words **UNSC ODST TRAINING FACILITY B** labelled across the front, this was going to be home for the next eight months as he underwent his ODST training.

Born into a farming family in an isolated area of Western Australia, Mayne grew up with every young farmer boy's dream of exploring the galaxy and getting away from home. Mayne was an only child with a father as his mother had died in a horror crash when a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and drifted into the oncoming lane, right into his mother's car. At the time Mayne couldn't comprehend the loss he had endured but his father took many months to move on in the slightest. In his spare time Mayne's father would take him out on their huge property to fire the civilian permitted Designated Marksman Rifle that they owned. Once Mayne was old enough to understand the concepts of the war between Humanity and the Covenant he immediately looked up to the soldiers who were fighting on the front lines and eventually found the ODSTs. They were highly trained, hard-ass troopers that fought the Covenant head on without fear. It was then that Mayne dreamt about what he wanted to be. He wanted to be a hard-ass ODST.

While this was only a child's dream and even his father laughed at such an idea, Mayne was still determined to be an ODST. After moving to high school this childish dream of his was starting to become more of a reality. Mayne selected the hardest subjects and excelled in each and every one and by the time he finished school and turned eighteen he applied to the Orbital Drop Shock Trooper section of the Navy. The officers checked Mayne's exam results, ran him through physical and psychological tests and finally allowed him to join. The very next day he was placed on a pelican with another fifty trainees and flown the ODST training facility in Africa.

"Get a fucking move on, trainee! Mummy ain't here to carry your sorry ass!" Major Sam Williams bellowed behind Mayne and he swore he could feel the polish of the Major's boot stain his behind as he lurched forwards. Quickly recovering his duffle bag filled with his personal belongings he hurriedly made his way inside to the briefing. Once seated in the lecture hall with the other trainees the Major took his place at the front. Sam Williams looked to be about forty years old with a well-built body and slightly greying hair, he was dressed in a set of well ironed green patterned military fatigues and wore a simple black military beret with the words ODST plastered on it.

"Alright trainees, you've probably applied for the ODSTs thinking you'll become the greatest fucking soldiers the universe has ever seen. Well, I am confident to say that you _will_ be the greatest fucking soldiers the universe has ever seen, but right now, you're all just a bunch of weak-assed recruits that'll piss your pants if a weapon is even pointed vaguely in your direction. The next eight months will make you think hell is a fucking paradise and I will guarantee that a lot of you won't make it past the first month. Now with pleasantries out of the way you'll now be organised into your sections for the next eight months." The Major was handed a data pad from a Lieutenant with what Mayne assumed was the list of names. Williams rattled off sections, placing trainees into each section and Mayne zoned out for a while until he heard his name.

"Alexander M, Kyte S, Brown A, Whetherman H, Novell C, you're Four Section." After the briefing Mayne headed for the bunk room of his new section and when he got to the room he saw that all the other members were already settling in. As he walked in all members of Four Section stopped and looked at him. One of the trainees approached him.

"You must be Alexander, I'm Avery Brown." Avery extended his hand and Mayne grasped it.

"Name's Mayne, good to meet you." Mayne replied and Avery gestured around to the other ODST trainees in order.

"That Henry, Claire and Sarah, welcome to Four Section, Mayne." Each member acknowledged when their name was said, Henry was a redhead with a freckled face and stood a little smaller than Mayne. Claire and Sarah were both brunettes with their hair cut down to regulatory lengths, the two main differences between the two girls was Claire was lean and had sharp looking eyes while Sarah was more heavily built with a scar running down her face from her ear to her chin. Finally, there was Avery, he was slightly tanned with short cropped black hair and a sturdy figure.

"You know what guys?" Avery clapped Mayne over the shoulder and brought him towards the group, "I think we're going to work great together." Little did they all know the level of comradeship they were going to form during the next few months of training.

 **Location: Corvette** _ **Shadow of Intent**_

 **Date: 22** **nd** **February 2558**

 **Time: 0900 hours**

Mayne scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. Yes, Reesha had just told him her life story and even the very hard parts of it but Mayne still was unsure of her. Instead he took the short and simple approach to her question. "I was just a kid who dreamt of being a soldier, joined the ODST section of the UNSC at eighteen, did a few campaigns and ended up here." He said evasively and Reesha knew that it wasn't the whole story.

"I am certain there is more of a story for such an individual." Reesha gently pressed but Mayne was having none of it, even though they had helped each other back on that corvette, had that friendly duel and Reesha had told her story, it did not make them anything near as friends, they were merely soldiers in the same situation. Mayne had no obligation to tell Reesha of his life.

 _And the life I left behind._ He thought. "Yes, but I'm not going to share it, thank you very much." He said more aggressively than he intended. Reesha hesitated briefly but wisely chose to guide the conversation away from Mayne's history and instead tried a different approach.

"You say you always dreamt of being a soldier, as did I. Was fighting as a soldier anything like you expected as a young one?" She asked and Mayne shook his head.

"No, not at all." As a child Mayne always thought that fighting as a soldier meant charging into the field of battle with the flag of your nation behind you, fighting villainy and winning the day. Once Mayne really got into combat, his dreams nor training could have ever prepared him for the horrors he experienced. In one aspect, Mayne did charge into the field of battle but almost never was it to victory. After the initial charge, he was instantly plastered against some form of barricade to stop the dreadful plasma from wiping away his existence. There was little to no winning for the UNSC, the victory was surviving the day.

No, war was not what Mayne had grown up thinking it was. War was a bloody, dreadful mess that inflicted so many insurmountable horrors on warriors from both sides. Before Reesha could reply a shifting noise sounded behind them of a door opening. "Am I interrupting something, Corporal? You know the penalties for fraternisation." Catherine said as she crossed her arms and produced a frown. Mayne stood up quickly.

"No, Sergeant, there's nothing going on here. We're just chatting." Mayne said defensively and Reesha, seeming to catch on, joined in on the defence.

"Mayne is correct, we were only exchanging stories. Nothing more." At this Catherine's eyes opened a little wider but the movement was quickly controlled. She let a smile slide.

"I was only joking you two, Phoenix is heading to the weapons training simulation, just wondering if you wanted to come along if you're feeling any better?" She asked.

Mayne nodded his head. "Yeah why not, I think I can handle it, just don't let the doc see." He imagined the face of the medical officer if he saw Mayne on the firing simulation, absolutely hysterical.

"I will join you if you do not mind, ODST Catherine." Reesha chimed in and Catherine nodded.

"Sure, we could have some friendly competition." She smirked at Mayne, who frowned.

"I've had enough competition against the Commander for a while, Catherine." He groaned.

"Yes, I bet you have." Catherine grinned, "Come on, let's go." She gestured for the pair to follow her. Mayne walked out first and as Reesha followed behind Catherine placed a hand in front of her.

"You say you got him to talk about stories?" Reesha nodded.

"It was not much, he was very evasive."

"Well, that's better than anyone has ever done since the incident." Catherine said and once again Reesha's interests were perked.

"What was this incident that occurred to him?" She asked but only received a shake of the head for Catherine.

"It's not my place to say, if he wants to tell you then he will."

At the weapons training simulation, the rest of Phoenix were already armed and taking shots at brute targets as they rose from the floor, walls or ceiling. Ajax carried an M20 Submachine gun, he was aiming down the reflex sight and firing only one or two round bursts at targets standing a few metres away. Gabriel was next to him wielding a M6C Silenced Magnum and firing rapidly as targets showed themselves. Also with Fireteam Phoenix stood the members of Reesha's team. The team was made up of four Sangheili, one of which Mayne knew to be the Major Zek. The Sangheili wore sets of SpecOps armour with either the colour red or blue. Upon approaching Mayne acquired a battle rifle but dropped it as a Type-25 Carbine flew into his arms. Reesha stood opposite him with arms crossed over her chest. "Shall we see who has the greatest sight?" She morphed her mouth into what Mayne could only assume was a sneer. Keeping a straight face, he set the carbine down against a stand and picked up the discarded battle rifle, he then threw it at the SpecOps Commander and gave his own sneer.

"As long as it's on even terms, _Commander."_ He taunted.

 _I doubt she's ever used a human weapon before. At least I've used a carbine before,_ He thought confidently. His thoughts were confirmed when she caught the rifle and her grin faded. "If I use plasma technology, I can use this primitive weapon." She tried to sound sure of herself but Mayne could hear a wavering uncertainty.

Reesha turned the weapon over in her clawed hands, taking in information, rapidly. There was a trigger of sorts which undoubtedly discharged the weapon, a siting system on the top of the weapon and a gap in the rear of the rifle where the ammunition would be inserted. Mayne walked over with a magazine and took the rifle from her grips. He gestured towards Catherine who was busily inspecting a battle rifle and loading the magazine into the weapon. "That's how you insert the ammo into the rifle," He then tilted the rifle in his hands, "You tilt the rifle so that the chamber is visible so you can correctly insert the magazine," Mayne slapped the magazine into the chamber, a small _Click_ signalling that the magazine was firmly in place. He then pulled the cocking handle back on the rifle and released it, arming the rifle. "Then you pull the cocking handle back and release the safety. The rifle is now ready to fire." He handed the battle rifle back to Reesha and picked up the carbine. He quickly opened the ejection port and inserted a cartridge into the chamber. Reesha seemed about to ask a question but Mayne interrupted. "I've had a bit of practice. This isn't the first time I've used a carbine." He said rather smugly. Reesha just grunted in reply and levelled the human rifle down range. A brute target shot up from the floor and Reesha pulled the trigger. A three-round burst spat out of the gun and sped towards the target. Reesha let out an annoyed huff as they missed by mere centimetres.

"Not bad Commander. Only problem is that if that brute was real, you'd be dead now." Mayne mocked in a serious tone. Reesha turned harshly to him.

"Let us see you shoot better with a Covenant rifle." She snarled. Off to the side Zek was standing by Catherine. He bent down slightly to her height.

"The Commander doesn't like being beaten, she tends to become aggressive when she starts losing." He whispered as to not gain the heated female Sangheili's attention.

"Well, in this case I believe she thinks she's already lost." Catherine chuckled. Mayne lifted his borrowed carbine and aimed it down range. A target shifted from the right wall and immediately Mayne fire three rounds in quick succession, each radioactive projectile impacting the chest of the target. Another target showed itself and another three projectiles were sent straight into its head. Mayne paused and turned to face Reesha with a smirk.

"Do I win Commander?" He asked innocently. Reesha, although a shade more purple, bowed her head slightly.

"I concede. As much as I regret losing, you do shoot admirably." She said and as her head raised and Mayne saw her eyes, he could see that the respect in her words was genuine. An overhead announcement drew the attention of all in the weapons simulation.

" _Shadow of Intent, we shall be exiting Slipspace within ten units. Prepare for a slight disturbance."_ Catherine gestured for Pheonix to come over.

"Alright guys, let's get back to our room and pack our gear." She was greeted with acknowledgements and the group left the room. Reesha stood for a moment with the members of Arbiter's Wrath. She looked down at the rifle in her hands and then down at the opposite end of the range. With a shrug, she placed the rifle stock against her shoulder and aimed down the sights. As a target showed itself she took an extra half-second before firing. Once she did the three-round burst hit the target directly in the chest. A smile lit up her face as she placed the weapon down.

"Let us prepare to depart." She said and the Sangheili around her nodded in agreement.

Once Mayne and the rest of Fireteam Phoenix arrived at their room they began loading up their duffle bags and slinging their rifles onto their backs. Catherine and Ajax were currently moving their bags to the Lich and Mayne was in the process of zipping up his bag. He was almost finished when a few words behind stopped him.

"So, _I'm_ guessing you've got a thing for the SpecOps Commander. Looking for some action while on operation, are we?" Gabriel sniggered. Mayne turned around to see the ODST looking directly at him with an unfriendly grin. Trying to avoid conflict Mayne faced his baggage again and spoke passively.

"I'm not doing any such thing Gabriel." He said as he fully zipped his bag.

"Bullshit, we all saw you eyeing that alien during that weapons session. Friendly competition, bullshit! You just want in." He laughed and Mayne suddenly felt hot under his collar, maybe it was the fact that Gabriel called Reesha an alien. Technically she was an alien to Mayne as a human but in this case Gabriel used alien as a derogative term as a means to insult him and her. Mayne didn't know why but he suddenly felt very pissed off. Dropping the passive attitude, he turned and marched straight up to Gabriel.

"I'm not sure what's your problem but you're really starting to piss me off, that's probably not the best thing to do." He seethed quietly, his face millimetres from Gabriel's. The arrogant ODST only smiled humorously.

"Ooo, not used to having someone annoy you. Seems appropriate for someone who's been alone for a while." His grin widened and Mayne had an urge like no other than to knock a few teeth out of Gabriel's grinning mouth. Thankfully Catherine had just come back and seen the confrontation.

"Break it up!" She barked. Gabriel's grin faded and he stepped back as did Mayne, "When we have some time we're gonna' sit down and have a little chat about this. It cannot continue!" She glared at both of the ODST's, "You're ODST's, do your fucking job and stick those bags on the Lich and get ready to leave." Mayne and Gabriel then picked up their bags wordlessly and made their way towards the Lich. All the while Mayne was trying to comprehend what made him so angry in the first place.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone I'm back again,

i dont really have much to say besides Holy Sh**, we've reached 4.6k views. It's really been a blast so far and I'm so thankful for everyone who has followed and favourited. Also a massive thank you to all those who reviewed, those are my inspiration and fuel to continue writing!

guest reviews

GiggleMeYumYums: hey where's the profile? I want to hear some of those conspiracy theories you have. If you get a profile then maybe I can drop a few hints ;)

OORAH: haha your reviews never cease to make me smile! A sex scene will be very far off I believe and I'll take into account your knowledge on Sangheili private body areas, you sicko! Na JK, I can't wait to read your next review!

Frostwolf: thank you for being one of the few to comment on the flashbacks, it's great to see you're enjoying the story! I look forward to playing Halo with you again!

Asher: Haha, I'm sorry it was a long time coming for another update. Hopefully this is good enough and I'll be sure to watch the pacing of the story!

* * *

 **Location: UNSC B Training Facility, Africa, Earth**

 **Date: 24** **th** **September 2550**

 **Time: 0500**

"Wake up Trainee, rise and fucking shine!" The voice of a Lieutenant shouted through Mayne's peaceful dream. His eyes suddenly snapped open as he felt a jolt of pain go through his chest. With a cry, more of shock than pain Mayne looked down to see the Lieutenant holding a shock baton against his chest. "Are you fucking deaf, Trainee? Get Up!" He roared and Mayne launched like a rocket out of his cot and came to attention. Even though he was up the trainer hit him once more in the stomach and Mayne collapsed forward.

"AHH, I'm fucking up." Mayne grimaced and the Lieutenant dropped to one knee to face eye to eye with him.

"I didn't hear a Sir." He yelled as he shoved Mayne back to his feet and raised his baton again.

"I'm fucking up, Sir!" Mayne corrected himself and the officer finally let up.

"That's better! Four Section, you are to form up on the parade ground and prepare for PT." He looked around at the group and only now did Mayne see that the rest of the team were up and standing at attention at the end of their cots. "Am I clear Four Section?". Mayne joined in on the chorus of acknowledgments and saluted when the Lieutenant stormed out of the room.

Avery approached Mayne with a worried look,

"Are you alright Mayne?" He rolled up his shirt to a bruise that was beginning to form on his shoulder, "He had a go at everyone, you'll have a gorgeous bruise on your chest by midday."

"Yeah, I'll be good." Mayne replied, gently caressing the newly developed bruise.

"We should get going guys, the trainers aren't going to wait forever." Henry cautioned which caused a scoff from Sarah.

"They're probably already timing how late we are." She said sarcastically.

On the parade ground Mayne could feel the heat of the African sun bearing down on his face and the sweat already dripping down his arms. They hadn't even stated their PT yet. The Lieutenant stood before them also sweating excessively but showed no discomfort, at least not openly. Alongside Mayne stood Four Section and around them stood the other sections, each trainee wore a black shirt with the words ODST printed on the front and black shorts with standard issue runners. This set of clothing along with formal wear and a set of training armour were delegated to each Trainee shortly after they were acquainted with their section.

"Every morning this is what will await you." The Lieutenant began, "I am First Lieutenant Shepard and it is my job to ensure that you experience hell _Every. Single. Morning_." Shepard stressed the last words as he strolled up and down the line of newbies. "You will do all that I say and the first person to drop will miss breakfast, along with their entire section." In a non-disciplined environment, most people would groan in protest but all the trainees present knew better than to complain.

"Let's begin! Drop to a push up position!" Shepard ordered and Mayne immediately dropped to the scorching ground. It took him a moment to adjust his hands to the extreme temperature of the cracked concrete but once ready he was rigid and steady, waiting for the command to start. He glanced to the side and saw Claire looking back at him with a small grin.

"Don't drop on us, Mayne." She said quietly with more than a hint of humour.

"Same to you Claire." Mayne replied instantly with a grin of his own.

"Down!" The command came and Mayne lowered himself and held the position for a few seconds, "Up!" The corresponding order came and Mayne did just that, pushing his body back up to the starting position.

"Down!"

"Up!"

"Down!

"Up!" The commands kept coming and Mayne kept the motions fluent but his breath began to pick up and sweat started dripping off his nose and onto the concrete. He could have sworn the sweat seemed to boil on the heated earth.

Mayne had lost track of time by the time Lieutenant Shepard halted the exercise. During the period of physical training he had been strolling around the course, watching their every movement. Now he halted and ordered the course to come back to attention.

"Course _Atten-Shun!"_ The order was brisk and Mayne was grateful for the conclusion of the now painful exercise. At the attention position, Mayne's arms were begging for forgiveness for the harsh treatment.

Suddenly there was a quiet _Thunk_ as something hit the ground close to Mayne. He glanced to the side and saw Henry Whetherman collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious. It seemed that his squad mate hadn't been breathing regularly and collapsed by rising too quickly from a lowered position.

"Whose Section is he from?" Shepard asked and Avery raised his arm.

"Four Section, Sir!" He called and Lieutenant Shepard tapped a few notes into his data pad.

"That concludes this morning's PT. All sections report to the mess hall, excluding Four Section. You may drink only water this morning. Dismissed!" The parade turned as one as marched off the parade ground, save for Four Section who returned to their fallen ally.

"Well, this fucking sucks." Mayne cursed and the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

 **Location: Corvette** _ **Shadow of Intent**_

 **Date: 22** **nd** **February 2558**

 **Time: 1000 hours**

Mayne felt the Lich shake as it entered the atmosphere of the foreign planet and held his battle rifle closer to his body. It was times like this that Mayne wished to be in a SOEIV. It was smaller, cosier and at least he had full control over where he would fly-

 _No, that doesn't sound right._ He thought,

Drop- He had full control over where would drop. Mayne took a glimpse out the window ports and felt a feeling of familiarity as he saw the outer layer of metal began heating up to extreme temperatures. Just like in his Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle as he dropped behind the rear of a Covenant army.

 _"Feet first into hell, ladies."_ Mayne recalled Avery saying many times before a drop.

"Mayne, did you get that?" He thoughts were dragged back to reality as Catherine called for his attention from across the floor. He looked back at the group and saw that all their eyes were on him.

"Uh, no sorry. Please say the last bit again." He said awkwardly and Catherine sighed.

"Reesha, please repeat the issue again." The Sangheili SpecOps commander sighed as well but said everything again.

"Over the last couple of months, we have encountered Covenant attacks from beyond the mountain range that surrounds the rear of the 'Moram state. A couple of days ago the Arbiter left to discover where the Covenant are operating and destroy them. The encountered issue is that we have received word that the Arbiter was ambushed and his entire force were either killed or captured. They have released a Sangheili back to deliver a message that they plan to execute him and bring an end to the civil war."

This left Mayne in a slight state of shock. Their mission to aid in the civil war was already at a tipping point if they let the Arbiter die and more importantly, Fireteam Phoenix will have failed in their main mission before it had even really started.

"So, what's our plan?" He asked and Catherine gestured to Captain Hendricks and he spoke for the first time during the flight.

"Our plan of action is to insert Fireteam Phoenix, Reesha's Team; The Arbiter's Wrath and a squad of marines consisting of twelve members behind the enemy lines and conduct a hostage recovery. This means the team will consist of sixteen humans and five Sangheili. I've ordered a single pelican to break off from the main group and form up on us as we descend onto the target. If we can pull this off then gaining the trust of our Sangheili hosts will be much easier and we can work together more efficiently. Is your mission clear to you Phoenix?" Mayne joined in with the acknowledgements but Catharine had a question.

"Will the Marines know their orders?" She asked and the Captain nodded.

"The marines will have orders sent through to their Corporal. They're to assist in any way possible but the rescue itself is up the you and the Elites." As he finished Reesha stepped forward,

"As we shall be in the fray together, it is time The Arbiter's Wrath is introduced." She gestured to the Sangheili standing just by the side. As Mayne saw before two wore red armour while the other two wore blue, Reesha herself wore a set of black armour. All sets of armour were classed in the UNSC database as Special Operations and Mayne could confirm this by having met his fair share of SpecOps Elites in the field.

She listed off the names of each Sangheili and they acknowledged once their name was called. Mayne learnt their names to be Diro, Ido and Rtada. Diro was a larger than average Sangheili who preferred to wield two plasma rifles instead of one. Mayne decided that it was best that they stayed allies, he didn't want to fight him on the battlefield. Ido and Rtada were brothers that were unequalled through their training together. Both excelled with the Carbine and carried modified versions of the weapon Mayne found out to be named 'Rain of Oblivion'. With introductions out of the way it was time to get down to business.

"Ok Reesha, what is the terrain like? What can we expect to encounter?" Catherine asked, the female Sangheili approached and placed a holographic device on the ground. It flashed open to display a holographic map of the ground they would be operating on. Made up by a blue haze Mayne could see that they would be engaging their enemy in a dense jungle environment.

 _Aw hell._ Mayne thought

Mayne had had his fair share of jungle campaigns. They were often long, tedious and with all the rain and moisture in the air, it tended to be pretty damn uncomfortable. Fighting in the jungle involved whole new tactics comparing to fighting in urban or desolate environments. As an ODST, he had been taught in all forms of military tactics, one of those being guerrilla warfare; a form of combat that involved lying below radar surveillance and then bursting out in a flurry of fire, dealing as much damage as possible and then disappearing back into the brush before the enemy had any idea of what was happening. It was an excellent way to instil fear into the enemy but being on the receiving end of an ambush in the jungle is not something Mayne relished.

Hopefully though this time, they will be the ones doing the ambushing.

He didn't get to think anymore as Reesha began her briefing of the topography.

"Here before you is a section of Qivro, one of the five continents of Sangheilos. In this continent lies five states. The largest of which is the 'Moram State, my birthplace. With varying weather conditions Qivro is known as 'The Cleaved Lands' due to the large mountain range that separates the jungles from the deserts. The ensuing mission will be conducted in a section of the Jalam state, deep within the jungles of Qivro."

Captain Hendricks stepped in for a moment.

"Who are the residents of the Jalam state? Are they friendly?" He asked and Reesha shook her head sadly.

"The Jalam state was the first state to fall to the Covenant Remnants. The Covenant invaded the land and executed the Kaidon and all his followers. All who survived made their way into 'Moram lands in a hope for survival."

"Have any other states managed to stand up to the Covenant?" Henricks continued.

"Unfortunately, no. No other state has managed to stand to the might of the Covenant resistance. The state of 'Moram is the only state to hold against invasion." Reesha said and this time Mayne joined in.

"Do we know where the attacks are coming from?" He asked and Reesha looked towards him with her bright blue eyes.

"We believe from the city of Sunaion, out on the Csurdon Sea but there may be other locations that are unknown to us." Mayne nodded, satisfied for now with his answer. Reesha then went back to her original task, knowing that the time to brief was quickly drawing to a close.

"The state of Jalam is now in ruin and we believe that it is the forefront of the Covenants attacks on the rear of the State of 'Moram, we have just been unable to locate any of their operating bases. Until now." She made a gesture on the holographic map and it zoomed in on a single location. It looked to be a large temple situated in the middle of a large clearing. It almost reminded Mayne of the ancient Aztec temples on earth that he studied during his history lessons in school.

"We managed to lock the tracer in the Arbiters armour to this location; a temple constructed to worship the Forerunners. His tracer was destroyed shortly after."

"Do we know when they plan to execute him." Ajax asked from his position to the side.

"It has almost been three cycles since his capture, The Covenant declared that his execution will be at sundown, when the sky is most blood-red, on the third cycle." She replied, casting an eye at the ODSTs, "Which gives us, in your time-" She seemed to convert time in her head, "Ten hours."

Mayne placed his helmet on for a brief moment to check the time.

 **-1036-**

 _Ten thirty-six. Shit, that only gives us until about eight pm._ Mayne thought.

"I think we should deploy...Here." Hendricks pointed to a location roughly five klicks from the temple.

"A wise choice, Captain." Reesha commented. "If we come in low and quickly, the Covenant will not catch wind of us."

"Alright, its decided. Phoenix, start gearing up." Hendricks ordered.

"Sir!" Mayne and the other ODSTs replied. As Mayne now removed the field equipment necessary for the mission he overheard the Captain on the COMMS.

"Pelican three-niner, fall out of formation and join the Lich." He cut the connection shortly afterwards and busied himself by looking at the holographic map, still activated on the ground.

Mayne now pulled seven magazines for his Battle Rifle and placed them in small pouches on his waist. Usually in an operation such as this, things weren't meant to turn into an all-out firefight but through experience Mayne knew it was always better to be prepared for the worst. Next, although not the most required item was a few MRE energy bars. Mayne always had trouble eating right before an engagement but stashed a few MREs in his chest pouch in the case that he was out in the field for longer than expected and needed an energy boost.

Still knelt down at his bag, Mayne removed the combat knife from his its sheath upon his chest and inspected the blade for rust or chips in the stainless steel. This was completely unnecessary but to Mayne it was habit. Next it was the magnum at his side. He held it closely to his face as he inspected for any possible malfunctions before cocking the weapon, applying the safe and placing it back into its holster. In combat you never knew then your primary weapon would run dry and you had only the magnum to rely on. Although the small firearm won't do much harm to a shielded elite, it was better than nothing. Now satisfied with his equipment for the mission he began zipping his bag up but stopped as he saw the corner of the photo of Fireteam Chaos. He contemplated taking it with him but what if something happened and he damaged it or lost it. The thought was quickly shoved out of his mind.

 _To hell with it, you guys can come with me._ He thought and placed the photo in his chest pouch along with the MREs.

Meanwhile, Reesha busied herself by preparing for the upcoming engagement. The female Sangheili Punched a few holographic keys on the Lich's armament compartment and a set of doors slid open to reveal a variety of carbines, plasma rifles, plasma pistols, plasma grenades and even the formidible Type-33 Fuel rod cannon. Reesha decided carefully for the next few moments on her choice of firearm. Jungle warfare was something Reesha found daunting, it was perfect for the enemy to ambush and take you completely by surprise. During the Human-Covenant war, she had been victim of such tactics. She was a major in charge of a team that was made up of three Sangheili, two Kig-Yar and four Unggoy. They were patrolling a section of jungle on the human world of Heian when they were ambushed by human soldiers. The firefight was brief and she was the only survivor of the slaughter, the rest of her team didn't know what hit them.

Coming to a decision, she picked up both a carbine and a plasma rifle. Usually she would choose only one primary weapon and a plasma pistol but in this situation, she would need the plasma rifle to cut through the dense brush and the carbine to use at range. She attached the blue, classic Sangheili rifle to her thigh and slung the carbine over her shoulder and clipped in to a hook on the back of her armour. It was then that a figure appeared beside her, well, two figures. The twins Rtada and Ido rummaged through the armoury looking for their prized possessions. Once they found the brightly patterned carbines they picked out a couple of plasma grenades as well. Ido attached two to his belt and then handed a pair to Reesha.

"You may want a couple of these Commander, just the sight of them will pull fear straight into the Covenents heart." He said. Reesha took the blue orbs and clipped them on as well.

"If we save the arbiter today, the Covenant will have more than our weapons to fear. Regaining the Arbiter will surely raise the hearts of the warriors." Reesha encouraged and both brothers growled in agreement. She then collected two plasma rifles from the stash and turned to face Diro who was lumbering towards them. She threw the rifles towards the hulking Sangheili and he caught them and clipped them to his thighs. He then picked out the largest of the weapons; the fuel rod cannon. Diro hefted the mighty weapon onto his shoulder and collected himself more than enough explosive projectiles to supply it.

After Reesha had armed herself she turned to observe the rest of the team. The Humans were quickly preparing themselves tightening armour or inspecting their weapons. While observing she found her gaze fall upon Mayne; the newest member of the Human squad. He was crouched by his bag containing his personal belongings and equipment looking at an item in his hand, like he was considering something. It was only a moment because he then placed the item into a pouch on his chest piece and stood up.

When Mayne turned about, she found herself drawn to the Human's green eyes. Not often did she find eyes appealing in Sangheili but the pair of eyes on this ODST made her want to draw closer to them. Maybe it was the colour, or maybe what she could see within them. Although the eyes were clouded with neutrality she could still see a sense of sadness behind them. A submerged pain that he obviously didn't want anyone to see.

"Can I help you Commander?" Mayne suddenly asked, seeming to catch her staring. The emotionless voice was so different to their conversation back on the _Shadow of Intent_ and it made Reesha feel unnerved.

"Ah, no sorry. I was just caught up thinking about something, that is all." She said clumsily and Mayne lifted an eyebrow in what she interpreted as confusion. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when the Lich's COMMs crackled to life.

"Deployment is imminent!" The pilot declared and suddenly the room around her became a bustling mess. Mayne slammed the black helmet onto his head as did the other Humans. Ido and Rtada slipped their carbines over their shoulder and into their clawed hands. Diro loaded his fuel rod cannon and held it to his shoulder in a ready position and Reesha unclipped the plasma rifle from her thigh.

She clicked her mandibles in anticipation.

"I am sure that we can achieve this goal, Commander." Zek said reassuringly as he appeared beside her.

"We have not choice but to succeed, Major. Failure is not an option this far into the war." Reesha replied sharply.

They had to succeed in this mission, their fight against the Covenant was dependent upon the Arbiter's survival. The Humans seemed to know it too as the Captain spoke up.

"Ok Helljumpers, this mission is to be completed flawlessly, we cannot allow for the Arbiter to be executed. If he is, this whole war could be over and the Covenant will be free to strike Humanity again. That is not something we want anytime soon. Good luck out there troopers." The ODSTs all rounded off with " _Sir!"_ And prepared to disembark.

"Drop site reached. May the Gods be with you!" The pilot called and the Lich's hatch lowered. Looking outside Reesha could see that they had found a small clearing that allowed the Lich to hover a few metres off the jungle floor. With a leap, Reesha landed with a roll and came to a combat stance, waiting to hear or see any sign of an enemy presence. Next came the Humans and then finally the other members of the Arbiter's Wrath. Alongside them landed the human dropship, the hatch lowered and human soldiers poured out, forming a defensive position in case of attack. Seeing no Covenant soldiers or bursts of plasma the group relaxed their stance but stayed weary.

Their first groundside mission of the operation had just begun.


	8. Chapter 8

**Edit 5/10/17: OORAH!: Once again, I don't usually do this but you are very dedicated. Try not to dwell on these dark thoughts, I went through a dark time before but doing things I enjoy and talking to the right people has helped me through that. I do have Xbox Live and I'd be happy to play Halo and talk if you also have it. My GT: F4LSE T3ARS.**

 **Hey guys!**

Im terribly sorry for such a delay on this chapter, I've just had a huge amount of writers block and other life necessities to deal with. Thanks once again for the people who gave this story a follow and left a review, its great to see what you guys are writing about this Fanfic and it gives me so much motivation to keep writing!

this is going to be the last chapter is a little while cos I'm going to be going to New Zealand soon on holiday so enjoy this chapter because it will be a little while before another comes out I think.

 **guest Replies**

 **FrostWolf:** Halo is always a blast when we're playing together, *Clinks imaginary drinks together* here's to more good times on Halo!

 **OORAH:** HAPPY (Late) BIRTHDAY MY DUDE! If I had known it was going to be your birthday I would have dedicated this chapter to you. Not to worry! I'll dedicate this chapter to you instead!

 **A Very Lazy Guy:** I'm glad you think my story is 'noice'. Hopefully you think this chapter is noice as well!

* * *

 **Location: UNSC B Training Facility, Africa, Earth**

 **Date: 10** **th** **December 2550**

 **Time: 1326 Hours**

The abandoned building site was too quiet for Mayne's liking.

"Keep your eyes peeled Four Section! Rebels could be anywhere." Avery Brown sounded terse through the COMMs. This training exercise was always the most difficult for Four Section and four months into training Mayne had experienced his fair share of difficult training exercises.

The objective; plant explosives in specific areas of the building site which is suspected of being a rebel stronghold. Avery had decided to split the section up into groups in order to move more swiftly and silently. Avery had chosen to go with Henry Whetherman and Sarah Kyte, leaving Mayne to go as a pair with Claire Novell.

Mayne and Claire had managed to plant their first explosive without incident but as they were nearing their second objective Mayne spotted multiple figures standing guard on the objective. Two stood together patrolling the windows in the left of the objective and another two stood guard beside a rusty forklift. Mayne signalled his teammate to crouch low behind a ruined doorway. He depolarised his training helmet visor and Claire did the same.

"Claire, hostiles. Two on your left, by the window. I'll take the two on the right" He whispered and she nodded silently but let loose a smirk.

"It's a competition then, I bet I can eliminate the two guards first." She sounded confident and Mayne returned a broad smile.

"And what happens when I get my two guards first?"

"That won't happen, silly." She chuckled and gave a sly look. Mayne quickly polarised his visor again as he felt heat rise to his cheeks. Claire smirked again and did the same.

"On my mark, we move." Mayne readied his assault rifle, loaded with stun rounds. Clair did the same.

"Mark!" Mayne burst into the room and fired off a few rounds at the two unsuspecting 'rebels'. The trainers dressed as rebels spun around and returned fire but not before one was hit, he dropped to the concrete ground hard. The remaining trainer ducked behind the forklift but Mayne as already prepping a stun grenade. With accuracy, Mayne lobbed the nade over the forklift and heard a yell and then a dull thud.

Both guards down. Mayne turned to see how Claire was fairing and saw her dispatching the last guard. Mayne smiled as evilly as he placed the fake charges on the objective.

"Don't you say a fucking word Mayne." She said sourly. Mayne decided not to push her buttons as made a quick assessment that his testicals looked fine not embedded in his eye sockets.

Suddenly there was a large beeping sound and a voice of the course AI, Luna, came over the arena speakers.

"Exercise complete. Well done Four Section, That's a five win streak. Report back to your room for debriefing." Luna said and Claire pumped her fist in the air.

"Ha, a five win streak! How's that sound Mayne?" She whooped and the pair began walking back to the arena exit. Upon approaching the exit Claire took of her helmet and let her hair flow out. Mayne stopped short of taking his own helmet off as he gazed at the girl in front of him, the way her brown hair flowed and her hazel eyes twinkled tugged at Mayne's heart and sent heat to his groin. For a few weeks now Mayne had had his eyes on Claire Novell and as much as he hated the distraction, he couldn't stop admiring her.

"Hey, you want to go for another round of this or what?" Claire was now facing him with a hand on her hip. Mayne yanked his helmet off and laughed nervously

"Of course not, I need some R'n'R."

"Yeah same, let's get back to our room and meet with the others."

At Four Section's room, Avery had the team sit down and debrief. Afterwards, everyone separated to do their own thing. Mayne lay on his cot in some casual clothes with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. He and Four Section had been pushed hard for the last few days and it was time that they all had a little bit of relaxation. Mayne heard the door slid open and he prepared to stand up, expecting a trainer was doing room inspections. He sat back down when he saw Claire, towel over her shoulder and dressed in her PT gear.

"Hey Claire." He greeted her and she waved back.

"Hi Mayne." She placed her gear down on her bed and moved to sit down beside Mayne. They sat in silence for a few moments until Mayne suddenly got a thought and smirked.

"Hey, remember I won that bet." Claire gave Mayne a glare.

"Yeah, and what of it, huh?"

"You said I wouldn't win, but I did. So what's my prize?" What happened next what nothing that Mayne would have expected. Claire closed the distance between the two of them and placed her lips on Mayne's. It was only a brief kiss and Claire leaned, producing a confident grin but her red cheeks gave away her clear embarrassment.

"How's that for a prize?" She asked nervously and placed her hands in his lap. Mayne sat there for a moment absolutely speechless. Surely she didn't feel the same way about him, but if this was all a joke then why was she blushing.

"That was… Wow, Claire." He was completely speechless. Claire seemed to mistake Mayne's lack of wording for a bad sign a went to stand, an expression of disappointment on her face.

"I'm sorry Mayne, I just thought that you felt the same-" her sentence was never finished as Mayne stood up and grabbed her shoulders and planted his lips in hers. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and to his groin when she responded by deepening the kiss and wrapped her arms around his waist. After a moment they broke the kiss and Mayne looked deep in Claire's hazel eyes.

"Of course I feel the same about you Claire. I've thought about you for so long." Claire smiled sheepishly, still flushed with embarrassment. Definitely something Mayne wasn't used seeing in the usually sarcastic and confident trainee. They continued to hold each other in silence until the door hissed open and Sarah walked in, halting only three steps into the room, staring wide eyed at Mayne and Clair, who separated quicker than lightning shooting from a storm.

"Hey Sarah, what have you been up to?" Claire spoke up first, trying to regain her composure. Sarah seemed to shake her head slightly and then smirked.

"Just been hanging out with a couple of other trainees," she gestured to the door and then looked back at the couple. "But what have you two been up to? Nothing on my cot I hope."

Mayne held his hands up in defence.

"Wait, no, we weren't doing anything like-"

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me." Sarah interrupted, a smirk still plastered in her face.

 **Location: State of Jalam, 4 clicks from Covenant operating base**

 **Date: 22** **nd** **February 2558**

 **Time: 1040 hours**

It was quiet. Well, as quiet as a Jungle could be. Mayne sat in a crouch position in complete silence as he waited for the carnage to begin.

Nothing. Nothing but the sound of the jungle. The squawking of alien birds and the _swooshing_ of the wind in the jungle canopy far above them. That didn't mean that there was no one watching.

"Let's move. We're too exposed out here, get into the brush before anything sees us." Catherine didn't need to whisper due to their helmet COMMs but in the tense atmosphere, Mayne couldn't blame her. Mayne flashed his acknowledgement light and clasping his rifle in one hand, he dashed towards the dense wall of green ahead of him. He hit the tree line and turned to see the rest of the rescue squad running after him.

"Everyone listen up. We have a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to cover it. Let's move quickly and quietly, we don't want to give away our position." Catherine said when she and the rest of the team were safely concealed in the trees. With all the shrubs and trees, it was difficult to see past ten metres but Mayne was able to pick out all the marines, ODSTs and the Elites.

"Let us move silently and swiftly. We cannot allow for the Arbiter to be executed, the tide of the war depends on it." Reesha chimed in through the COMMS. Whilst on the Lich, Captain Hendricks had given the Sangheili the channels for the COMMS that Mayne and the others used and were now able to communicate to them at will.

"Corporal Rea, take point and move quickly but do not be seen." Catherine ordered and a feminine voice responded.

"Aye-aye Sarge. Private Edwards, Private Fays. You're with me." Two marines acknowledged and fell instep behind their corporal as she took point. Mayne and the ODSTs joined in with the loose formation of the marines and the trek through the jungle began.

It wasn't until the small rescue team had almost risen to the top of the first hill that they met their first encounter with the remanent Covenant. A flash of blue light came searing through the dense trees and Mayne instinctively hit the dirt, bearing his teeth in pain at the impact of his chest meeting the hard dirt.

"Contact! The bastards are above us on the-AHH!" The call from Private First Class Fays was cut short as his scream pierced the COMMs. Mayne looked up from the ground to see the Private crumple to the ground with a seeming large, blackened hole in his chest.

 _Oh Fuck, not even an hour in and we've got a casualty..._

Something seemed to urge Mayne to roll to the right and so he did, narrowly missing a burst of plasma as rupture the dirt where he once lay. He felt a large hand grab his shoulder and heft him up onto his knees and behind a large tree as another bolt of boiling plasma hit the ground where he was merely milliseconds ago. He turned to see who his saviour was and he found himself facing Diro, the fuel rod wielding Sangheili.

"Thanks" Mayne said simply and Diro nodded before leaning out from behind the tree and letting off three bursts from his cannon. The muffled sounds of the explosions rang through Mayne's helmet along with the sound of the marines returning fire at the unseen attackers. The marines and Elites had dug themselves in along the hill, desperately trying to use trees and large roots as cover. Deciding it was time to chime in, Mayne looked around the side of the tree and levelled his battle rifle before letting off three bursts into the trees. Although he couldn't see the enemy clearly he was able to get small glimpses through the green haze of trees.

"Mayne! Give us a number, how many of the fuckers are there?" Catherine called over the COMM. Mayne hunkered down and looked towards the ODST Sergeant, seeming to make eye contact even though she wore a helmet.

"Unsure, can't get a bead on all of them." Mayne responded as he fired blindly around the tree in hope of snagging a kill. It was at this moment another voice joined the COMM channel.

"It must be an observation post, three Sangheili and a collection of Unggoy and Kig-Yar." Reesha's voice sounded more guttural due to the COMMS., "Be wary humans, they may also have a plasma turret within their arsenal."

True to her word tens of blue plasma rounds came hurtling through the trees, tearing up the ground and fauna and catching a marine who had been unlucky enough to poke his head out of cover at the wrong time, creating a cloud of red where the marine's head used to be.

"We need to take out that OP marines! Mayne! Flank around with Ajax and see if you can disable that turret." The orders burnt themselves in Mayne's brain and he immediately looked for the large ODST. It didn't take long to see the hulking Hell jumper crouched behind a large root gesturing for Mayne to join him.

Without a second thought, Mayne burst from cover and sprinted across the exposed ground, plasma and needler rounds narrowly missing his head, body and legs. Upon reaching his ally he dived behind the root and nearly barrelled into Reesha who was also in the company of the large ODST.

"I shall join you humans, let us move." She said over the COMMs. Mayne peeked over the natural barrier to ensure that no enemy had them in their sights. Seeing as no blobs of plasma were being fired their way Mayne pointed in the direction that they would travel and the three companions headed off.

It was only a short distance to flank their encamped enemy but Mayne wanted to stay under the Covie's radar and it was clear that Reesha and Ajax shared the same thoughts as they moved quickly but cautious enough to avoid detection. The whole sight reminded the helljumper of similar flanking manoeuvres he'd conducted with his own fireteam. Fireteam Chaos moved fluently and effectively like that of a well-oiled machine and their tactics often caught their enemy off-guard and made for a quick victory. Mayne shook his mind to clear the thoughts, he couldn't afford to drift off in his own conscious when his actions could decide the fate of his new team.

"We're almost there, I can see movement off to the right." Ajax spoke calmly and Mayne followed his gaze to where a large amount of movement was visible through the trees and undergrowth.

As second in command of Pheonix, Mayne had seniority over Ajax but Reesha was technically the highest rank of the three of them so Mayne looked to her for orders.

"Corporal Cutter shall remain here with me. Mayne, position yourself behind the outpost and be ready to fire if any of the Covenant Remnant try to escape." Reesha stated. Mayne's eyes narrowed in confusion as why she used such informality when addressing him in the field but chose to ignore it and nodded to Ajax to ensure he followed the command. The two species may be allied but some people on this mission will have difficulty following orders given by the Elites. Ajax Cutter acknowledged Mayne's subtle nod and remained in his current position. Mayne then turned to leave but paused for a moment.

"Stay safe, Reesha." He said over a private channel to the Sangheili.

"You too, Mayne." Even though caught off-guard by the comment Reesha's response was nonetheless genuine. Still, Mayne questioned himself on his sudden comment but found that he couldn't quite answer. He was back to reality when he almost tripped over a tree root.

 _Focus!_ He growled to himself and returned back to the task at hand.

Once behind the enemy, Mayne could now clearly see what they were up against, three Elites, four grunts and two jackals. Already there was a mess on the ground where a grunt's head had been taken apart by a human rifle and the Elites seemed to be having trouble controlling their subordinates and fighting the rescue team at the same time. The grunts were beginning to panic while the Jackals began to slowly back away from their outpost.

"It's now or never Sergeant! Hit them while they're disorganised!" Mayne called to Catherine.

"Roger! Get ready for them to run." She warned and suddenly the fire from the marines doubled and an Elite was caught in the deadly blaze, his shields failed and his armour buckled in as multiple rounds bursts through and destroyed his insides.

That was the last straw. The grunts, terrified by the ordeal, turned about and ran from the fighting. This set off a chain reaction and the Jackals followed, squawking as they bounded away from the rescue team and right into Mayne's line of sight. The Jackals didn't know what hit them as Mayne's battle rifle spat out burst after burst, hitting one in the head and practically dismembering the arm from the second. Reesha and Ajax suddenly burst from their own cover and fired upon the grunts, killing all within a few seconds leaving only the elites.

The two Elites remaining seemed to decide that death at their outpost wasn't worth the risk and retreated back towards Mayne, still unknowing of his existence behind them. Once they were close enough Mayne lobbed a frag into their midst to soften them up. One Elite saw the grenade and pushed his friend out of the way, so when the nade exploded, it broke though most of the first one's shields but missed the second entirely.

With a growl Mayne levelled his rifle with the injured one first and fired multiple times, each round putting more holes in the Covenant warrior's chest before it finally dropped into a rapidly spreading pool of blood. Mayne then turned his emotionless gaze to the second only to find that it was charging right at him, an energy sword clutched in its hand.

Moving too quickly for Mayne to use his iron sights he let loose a barrage of fire at the oncoming Saurian. The rifle fired twice, draining the shield of the oncoming Elite but not doing enough damage to piece it's armour.

"Fuck, fuck! FUCK!" Mayne's voice escalated and he closed his eyes in anticipation for the end as the Sangheili came upon him.

But instead of having his guts pour out of his stomach or his head separate from his neck, there was a _Wooshing_ sound followed by his gun being ripped out of his hands and a huge force crashed into him.

Once Mayne opened his eyes he found his battle rifle in two halves beside him and the Elite bounding off into the forest.

 _He must be out of radio contact!_ Mayne jumped up and without another thought, ripped his magnum from its holster and began running after the Elite.

"Mayne! Get back here, stay as a group!" He heard Catherine yell over the radio and he looked back to see his superior standing above the Elite he killed and looking in his direction.

"No can-do Catherine." He kept on running, trying to maintain his pace with the larger Elite, "I've got the stop that bastard before it gets into radio range to call his friends!"

"Stop now! That's an order Corpor-" Mayne didn't hear the rest as he cut the connection.

If they won't let him go, this Elite would call his friends and this wild rescue mission would be a bust. The Arbiter would be killed and their chances of winning this war would diminish. As he ran through the brush a small beep signalled that a private channel had been established.

"Stay safe Mayne." Reesha's voice rang through his helmet, echoing the words he said to her just before. Mayne said nothing as he bounded through the trees, magnum in hand.

It didn't take long for Mayne to lose sight of his enemy, the jungle just seemed to swallow them up. Coming to a halt Mayne glanced to his radar and saw nothing. He dropped to a crouch to inspect the ground.

 _Now if only I could find some- Aha!_

In the dirt there was a definitive hoof print, a print only a Sangheili could make. This was his path now. Mayne began to follow the footprint, slower than running for sure but at least he knew where the enemy was heading. A dull roar suddenly caught the ODST's attention and he turned up his helmet's audio receptors.

It sounded like water, and the roaring sound must be a waterfall.

Mayne looked around to try to get a bearing on where the fall was but was unable to identify the origin, so he made a note to keep an eye out for any possibly drastic drops.

It was at this moment that a red dot suddenly appeared on his radar and was rapidly approaching on his position. The Helljumper turned on the swivel and raised his magnum to face the mess of fauna that held the enemy in cover. The brush then exploded in a flurry of movement as the Elite Mayne had been pursuing burst into the small clearing and pounced upon him, knocking him squarely onto his back and causing him to lose grip on his magnum while getting all the air knocked out of him.

"You…Mother…Fucker!" Mayne gasped between huge breaths as he tried desperately to get oxygen back into his lungs. The Elite composed itself and activated its energy sword ,the glowing blue reflected off its armour as it then placed a hoof heavily on Mayne's chest, punching the oxygen out of his lungs once again.

His muscles suddenly tensed as horrible memories flooded his mind. A dark figure flashed before his eyes, partially blocking out the Sangheili standing before him. Next came the screaming, a familiar voice that he could remember so clearly.

 _Claire! No, no, no! Stop! Snap out of it!_

Mayne thrashed around with his arms like a caught animal, hoping to hit the Elite that was holding him down. The dark figure infiltrating his vision let out a guttural laugh and then suddenly disappeared, clearing his vision to see a brand new horror. The Elite had it's sword raised and was preparing to strike, it was only Mayne's training that made him move at the last minute. He removed his combat knife from it's sheath and with both hands, stabbed the knife into his assailant's leg that was grounding him. With the force that Mayne applied, the blade passed through the Elites energy shield weak point and spilt purple blood all down the Covie's leg and all over Mayne's torso armour.

The Saurian fell back with a low snarl and allowed Mayne to rolled to the side to avoid any attack. Fortunately, he bumped into his magnum and so picked it up and levelled it at the Sangheili. It took all shots in the first magazine to take down the beast's shield but by that time it was preparing itself to charge him again with all intent to gut him with their blade. The ODST back pedalled quickly but stopped as he looked back to find himself a few measly metres from the edge of a cliff. A large stream of water was cascading down the rock face just ten metres from where he stood.

 _Well, there's the waterfall._ Mayne thought matter of factly and readied his magnum for a final stand. This wasn't the first time that Mayne had considered death but this was one of the few times he truly believed it would be the end of him. He removed one of his dwindling supply of pistol magazines, slammed it into the chamber and like a cornered animal, he snarled under his helmet at his foe.

The Elite moved fast, not as quick as before due to it's injured knee but still quick enough to avoid most of Mayne's shots. Clearly attempting to end Mayne quickly, the Elite lunged forward with his blade but at the last minute Mayne dropped to the ground and the Sangheili stumbled, fuelled by momentum, over Mayne's body and off the edge of the cliff.

Mayne's relief of seeing the Elite tumble off the edge was short lived as a large claw wrapped itself around Mayne's boot. Mayne felt solid ground slip out from underneath as he joined the Covenant warrior in the gut wrenching fall.

 _So this is how it ends._ Mayne thought as gravity took hold and he closed his eyes as he waited for his inevitable death.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello Everyone!**

I am extremely sorry for the very delayed upload. After I got back from my holiday to NZ I experienced a huge writers block and to add on with that, I'm in the middle of exams and I've been studying my ass off to get good grades. I also may have gotten a little side tracked with playing Halo and Fortnite hehe.

well, this is the long awaited chapter 9 (Yes OORAH, I'm finally updating) and I hope you all enjoy.

 **Note:** This chapter hasn't been edited by my editor so it may change slightly in the following week or so if i have any major errors. If you guys find any major errors send me a PM and ill sort it out.

 **Guest Responses:**

 **Giggle meyumyums:** Hey welcome back, that seems to be a few crazy experiences and I hope you're ok! Lets hope you lose that bad luck streak :)

 **OORAH:** I'm finally updating! Please don't shoot me with that 9mm

* * *

 **Location: State of Jalam, 3 clicks from Covenant operating base**

 **Date: 22** **nd** **February 2558**

 **Time: 1130 hours, Arbiter's execution estimated 8 hours 30 minutes**

Reesha's breath was ragged as she sprinted though the humid jungle after the ODST; Corporal Mayne Alexander. During the firefight against the Covenant outpost, she saw Mayne going after one of the large Sangheili that tried to escape its sure death. Reesha had no doubt that the human could hold his own in a fight but in this environment, it was all too easy for an enemy to disappear in a second and then ambush its prey once it loses sight of them. Even now she could imagine Mayne walking cautiously through the brush, having lost sight of the retreating warrior and then having an energy sword plunged deep into his back as the Sangheili launches its attack from behind. Although not knowing why it caused her so much worry the thoughts seemed to make Reesha push even harder to catch up to him.

Suddenly a burst of gunfire alerted her and she changed direction sharply, bursting out of the trees into a small clearing just as the Covenant warrior ploughed head on into Mayne, flipped over him and to Reesha's horror, dragged him by the heel over the edge of what seemed to be a cliff. Without wasting a moment, Reesha rushed to the side of the cliff, hoping to no end that her Human ally had somehow managed to grab hold of something.

Below her was only raging white water, Mayne was gone.

Reesha sat back, her body numb.

He was gone. Mayne was dead.

Why did she feel so numb? She had seen many soldiers die by her side but it never made her feel like this. The only time she remembered feeling like this was after the death of her best friend; Ceea 'Vukam.

 _I didn't even know anything about this Human. I shouldn't feel like this_ , she tried to tell herself but a second voice cut through her mind,

 _But now he's gone._ The thought troubled her to the core but she was too shocked to think why.

Suddenly the ferns behind her were unceremoniously shoved aside with a loud crash and Reesha spun around, senses flaring and fired a shot from her carbine at the intruders. The second in command of The Arbiter's Wrath; Zek, ducked quickly as the bolt flew mere inches over his head.

"Commander Reesha! We are friendly!" He called as he slowly rose to his full height once more, there was more rustling behind him as the rest of the rescue team came into the clearing. Reesha let the carbine fall limply in her clawed hands as she stood up and heaved a long sigh.

"I apologise Major, I thought you were Covenant." Zek nodded his understanding. His next question sent a slight pain though Reesha's chest.

"Have you located the other Human?" Reesha simply pointed to the edge of the cliff and dropped her head slightly.

"The Sangheili he followed fell off the edge and took Corporal Alexander with him. He has perished." The words sounded emotionless and hollow but what lacked emotion in her voice seemed to speak insurmountable amounts in her mind.

"Did you see him die?" The largest of the Human ODST's; Ajax almost demanded in a low voice.

"No, I did not but-"

"Then there's still a chance for us to find him, let's go!" He began to jog back into the jungle but their leader; Catherine placed a hand on his shoulder armour.

"We can't Ajax, we don't have enough time." She said sympathetically but with a hint of command in her voice.

"But we can't leave him there!" Ajax growled and this time the third member joined in.

"Yeah, we can, he wanted to be the lone wolf and look where it got him. It's the bastards fault he got himself into that situation." Gabriel almost sneered.

"Oh, you sonofa-", Reesha could see that the human was barely holding himself back and she too almost felt like removing the arrogant Human's head from his shoulders. Around her, the Sangheili were idly standing and inspecting their weapons as they didn't have any opinions about the recently deceased Human. The Human marines were watching on cautiously, seeming to not want to get involved with matters of their more advanced allies but ready to break things up in case the situation got out of hand.

"With all respect to your fallen ally, we shall pay the price if we remain here for much longer. The Arbiter will not stay alive forever." Zek spoke up and suddenly all helmet visors were on him. Ajax slowly dropped his tensed shoulders.

"You're right-" He saw Gabriel uptake some air as if to make another taunt, "-Not you, you fucking asshole." Ajax snarled and Catherine once again placed a hand on his shoulder.

"If he is still alive and not incapacitated, he'll find us. He may be a lone wolf but he's a tough ass ODST." She then turned back to the rest of the group. "Let's move."

Reesha cast a last look back over the cliff edge and felt another pain in her chest.

Why? Why was this Human's death so hard to accept. Just like it was to accept Ceea's death.

"May you rest easy, Mayne Alexander" she said quietly before holstering her carbine and following the party back into the jungle.

They still have an Arbiter to save.

 **Location: Unknown**

 **Date: Unknown**

 **Time: Unknown**

Mayne felt a cool wet substance on his head, almost like water was being wiped from a towel on his forehead. It was a nice sensation and it reminded him of the spray that would arise from water tumbling down a waterfall. Suddenly he felt himself frown as something swirled in his mind.

 _Water tumbling down from a waterfall. Waterfalls tumble off cliffs. Cliff…. Falling!_

Mayne's eyes suddenly shot open and directly above him was the face of a Sangheili. Rocketing back into reality he flung his fist at the assailant and connected his fist with its mandibles, sending it stumbling back into two more of its kind. The warrior let out a low growl of pain.

"By the Gods, is that how Human's greet one another?" Mayne scrambled to his feet and reached for the hilt on his combat knife and feeling a sense of dread when he realised it was gone. Mayne and the three Sangheili stood still for what seemed to be hours before the alien warriors began making very odd rumbling sounds. Were they laughing?

Mayne began to feel something sliding slowly down his brow. He reached up and grabbed the object and found that it was some sort of moss, green and wet.

"What is this?" Mayne growled, throwing the moss to the ground and raising his hands again. Now that he was fully aware of his sensations he could feel pain, lots of pain all over his body. He reached up and felt his head and saw that his fingers came away with a small amount of blood. The leader of the three Sangheili standing before him who wore a set of silver Field Marshall armour pointed towards the water that they had found Mayne in before speaking in a calm voice.

"If you think we are Covenant loyalists you are very incorrect, Human." He pointed back to where another body lay, also a Sangheili but it's neck was twisted very out of shape.

"That was your foe. He has long been deceased. You are lucky that you fared better." The Sangheili then activated his energy sword and took a step closer to Mayne, losing his neutral tone in exchange for a menacing one, "But why are you here Human? We may have a truce but your kind are not permitted on Sanghelios."

Mayne began to back up, raising his hand openly in surrender, realising that these warriors were against the Covenant.

"I'm here with a team to rescue the Arbiter. I'm part of a team assigned to The Arbiter's Wrath." Only at the mention of said team did this Sangheili halt.

"The Arbiter's Wrath? Is that so? And who is the leader of that team?"

"Reesha 'Moram is our leader." Almost immediately the Sangheili deactivated his blade and stepped forward, his mandibles twisting into what Mayne could interpret was a smile.

"I am Field Marshall Lashra 'Saralum, I am the leader of another task force that were sent to rescue the Arbiter." Mayne was now very confused.

"Another team? I thought we were the only one." He queried and a Lashra let out a small disheartened laugh.

"We must be assumed deceased then. You see, uh-"

"Mayne Alexander, UNSC ODST division." Mayne informed Lashra.

"-Mayne Alexander, that there are not many of us left in this team. We were ambushed by the Covenant and it was a slaughter. Only the three of us remain." At this, the two Sangheili behind Lashra spoke softly in their own language and lowered their heads. Lashra too seemed to drop his head slightly. Was it because he was mourning his lost brothers or because of the realisation that he was most likely considered dead to the rest of Sanghelios. Probably a bit of both.

"I am terribly sorry for the death of your brethren, I give my greatest condolences." Mayne placed a fist on his chest armour, relating all too well to the aftermath of the slaughter of team members.

"Do not worry of such things, they knew the risks and perished fighting for a peaceful future for all Sangheili." Lashra walked past Mayne and he turned to see that Lashra was collecting his custom helmet, knife and magnum.

"I believe that you shall need these for our journey, Mayne Alexander."

" _Our_ Journey?" Mayne questioned as he donned his helmet, slipped his magnum into its holster with a satisfying _click,_ and slid his combat knife into his battle rifle though, he felt naked. Like a fish out of water or a lumberjack without an axe. Once ready he rebooted his helmets' systems, first the motion sensor flickered to life and soon followed by everything else. Mayne glanced down at the clock.

 _1306 Hours_

 _Shit, I must have been out for an hour._ He thought

"Yes, you would be foolish to go alone, Mayne Alexander." Lashra insisted.

"Ok, just Mayne is fine, you don't have to call me by my name and surname. Another thing, I don't need you because we already have a plan and I don't want anything to go wrong because a few new guys don't know the plan." Mayne hoped he sounded convincing. Truth be told, they didn't really have a plan for when they arrived at the temple, they didn't have enough intel. It was this time that his body decided it was a good time to send a jolt of pain through his body and he winced slightly.

"See Human, you are not fully healed. Now whether you like it or not, we shall accompany you as we promised to return our Arbiter back safely and I plan to see this mission through." Mayne didn't feel the strength to argue with his new allies and simply shrugged.

"Fine, whatever. Let's go." He said and the new group set out to locate the Arbiter.

The journey through the jungle was a perilous and exhausting one. Had Mayne not been wearing his armour, he would be swarmed with small insects and even some of Sangheilos's larger ones. Mayne first saw them in the canopy after Lashra had grabbed him and help him to the ground, making Mayne wince at the pain.

"Do you see those insects up there? They are Hirika. They are vicious creatures." He warned. Mayne Glanced up to see that the Hirika that Lashra was pointing at were almost like the dragonflies he used to see back home, except much larger and with a long dagger like proboscis. In a swarm like that, Mayne wouldn't stand a chance so he kept quiet and moved along quietly to avoid the unwanted attention.

A little time passed without a sound from Mayne or Sangheili. This allowed Mayne to have some time to think to himself. Having a look around for any hidden opponents and seeing his alien comrades behind him, he suddenly felt a small grin form. What a weird concept it was that only a year ago, Mayne was fighting tooth and nail to kill any Sangheili he saw and now he was having a nice stroll through the jungle with three of his previous enemies. Much of the UNSC, Hell, much of Humanity hated the idea of forming a treaty with the Sangheili for what they did to them during the thirty odd years of war but after the Sangheili helped Humanity defeat the Covenant and the nightmare inducing Flood, it was only fair to give them another chance.

 _At least it shows that things can change._ This thought was rudely interrupted by a more darker voice.

 _Yeah, you had a team one minute and then the next they were all dead._ Mayne mentally shook his head, there was a time to dwell on these thoughts but now wasn't the time.

 _Maybe this shows that even after thirty year, Humanity can finally know what it means to have peace. Of course there will be insurrections for many years to come but maybe this is the beginning of a more peaceful era between all species._

Mayne's train of thought changed direction repeatedly and he suddenly found himself thinking of a certain female Sangheili. The warrior in black armour, ferocious in battle, skilled with her red blade. She was certainly a Sangheili to be reckoned with. His thoughts drifted back to the battle aboard the corvette where Reesha and himself fought to save the Human prisoners.

 _When we fought onboard that Covenant corvette, and when Reesha's life was in danger, why did I feel so afraid of her dying. Never have I feared that way about anyone's life aside from my team. And then afterwards, she seemed to be the only one who genuinely cared about my troubles._

Mayne shook the thoughts from his mind and he chuckled slightly.

 _Maybe the fall damaged more than just my body. I probably lost a few neurons too._

 _"_ How about you tell us something about yourself, Mayne Alexander. If we are to be allies to recover the Arbiter we should become acquainted." Lashra spoke up and Mayne felt the urge to roll his eyes.

"I'll probably never see you again after this mission so I don't think it's necessary." He replied briskly. He could almost sense Lashra bristle at the dismissiveness of his comment but instead of lashing out he said something else.

"What about Commander Reesha? What do you think of her?" Mayne cocked his head slightly as he glanced back at his new Elite ally.

"What about her?" He asked, mildly curious as to why the Sangheili suddenly took an interest in the SpecOps Commander.

"Have you been acquainted with her? What is she like?" Mayne's face scrunched up in confusion. Why would Lashra ask these questions of him? What association would a Field Marshall have with a Special Operations Commander? Then the Elite's question came to mind. Mayne didn't actually know much about Reesha. She excelled in basic combat training, became a student to a great war veteran and was one of the few females to join the ranks of the Covenant. Besides that, he didn't really know her at all.

"I-… We have been acquainted." Lashra kept looking at him with his reptilian eyes, expecting more of an answer, so Mayne continued. "I actually don't know much about her. We fought together on one occasion and fought in a duel but other than that I don't know..."

Lashra's eyes seem to darken and Mayne saw his body tense slightly.

"A duel? That is...Interesting." He said and Mayne decided to let the Sangheili's comment slide. They continued on without any more conversation.

 **Location: State of Jalam, Ancient Sangheili temple, Covenant operating base**

 **Date: 22** **nd** **February 2558**

 **Time: 1820 hours, Arbiter's execution estimated 1 hour 40 minutes.**

Reesha glanced towards the sky though the foliage. From where she was sitting she could see the glaring suns that Sangheilos orbited around slowing falling to the horizon. The same suns that rose when she came out of the womb as a youngling and the suns that beat down upon her during her combat training. These were the same suns that would signal the death of the only Sangheili capable of saving her race from destroying themselves in a bloody civil war.

That was a truly terrifying thought.

"We do not have much time to spare, the Arbiter will be executed soon." She looked towards Catherine who nodded her head sombrely. With her helmet off Reesha could see that the Sergeant was still feeling the pain of losing the newest member of her team.

 _No, not just her team. Our team. This is our team and we lost Mayne._ She too was still feeling the raw emotions after seeing the Human she had met and fought with perish. A whirring sound drew her attention back to reality and she glanced over the cover that concealed them from the Covenant controlled temple. They had arrived a short time ago and were in the process of seeing what they were up against. The temple itself was covered in moss, built in the centre what looked to be a crater that was formed a millennium ago by Forerunner debris, the reason the temple was built here in the first place. The grassy ground was flat with little vegetation and surrounding the crater were dirt walls where the rescue team were currently positioned. Taking in all the surroundings anybody could tell their odds were not looking too good. The Arbiter was already positioned outside in plain sight, his hands tied behind his back. The six surviving members of his team were also present all in similar states as their leader.

Surrounding them were heavily armed Covenant warriors with a vast array of weaponry and a wraith, the source of the loud sound. Standing before the Arbiter was a Field Marshall with his blade placed upon his hip. Reesha saw the Sangheili look towards the sky and then say something to the kneeling Arbiter.

"We should act soon, if we attack quickly then we may plunge the Covenant into disarray. If we can get weapons to the Arbiter and the other Sangheili then we may just stand a chance." Reesha suggested to Catherine who nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, that would work well." Catherine paused for a second, getting her bearings. " We're positioned south of the crater. My team could move around to the west and attack the infantry if you and the Elites flank to the East and take out that wraith." Catherine indicated the areas of attack and Reesha followed her gaze.

"That may just work. Now if only we could have another group attack from the south, we could surround them and-" Reesha didn't finish as another voice cut through the COMMS.

"This is Corporal Mayne Alexander. Does anyone copy? I am on the north side of the temple with three other Elites. I say again, does anybody copy?"

Reesha's eyes widened and she looked directly at Catherine who was still looking at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Sergeant Catherine, put on your helmet now!"

 **Location: State of Jalam, Ancient Sangheili temple, Covenant operating base**

 **Date: 22** **nd** **February 2553**

 **Time: 1823 hours, Arbiter's execution estimated 1 hour 37 minutes.**

"This is Corporal Mayne Alexander. Does anyone copy? I am on the north side of the temple with three other Elites. I say again, does anybody copy?" Mayne used the zoom feature in his helmet to scope the far sides of the crater, hoping to catch a glimpse of his team. Did they even make it? Where they captured or killed before they could reach the temple?

"Are your allies here, Human?" Lashra asked from his crouched position. Being the Sangheili he was, Lashra was forced to basically lay down on the ground in order to remain hidden from any possible observers, his armour wasn't exactly the most inconspicuous, being silver.

"I don't know, maybe they got held up." Mayne replied tersely.

When he heard Catherine's voice over the COMMs he heaved a sigh of relief

"Mayne! We're on the north side of the crater, most likely directly opposite you. We would probably be able to see you but there's a big-ass temple in the way."

Mayne chuckled slightly and his Sergeants attempt at humour before turning back to Lashra.

"They're here, directly opposite us. On the other side of the temple." Lashra nodded silently. Then another voice came through the COMMs.

"Mayne, it is good to know you are still alive." It was Reesha, "We do not have much time, the Arbiter is to be executed soon." Mayne ignored the odd feeling in his chest when she spoke and focused on the mission ahead.

"Alright so what's the plan?"


	10. Chapter 10

**H-hey guys, now before you murder me for letting go of this story for some months just hear me out.**

 **i never intended to leave this story for such a stupid amount of time, I just got very preoccupied with so many other things over the recent holidays and didn't have much motivation to get another chapter written up. And then before I knew it I was starting school again and as it is my final year of high school I've suddenly been put under a lot of pressure with work and tests. Adding to that was the sudden writers block that further ruined my motivation.**

 **But it was the constant emails that I received saying that people had followed and favourited my story and messages from some of my more dedicated followers (FrostWolf, OORAH, Gigglemeyumyums, Notgoodatnames, I'm talking about you guys) that made me feel guilty about not writing. So finally I'm back with another chapter that I hope you will all enjoy.**

 **for many of you I recommend you go back a few chapters to refresh your memory on what's been going on with our awesome Protagonists so you can read this chapter without any confusions. Also should I write smaller chapters to upload slightly quicker or long chapters that will take more time to get out?**

 **and before I forget I am super happy to say we've reached 100 followers for HALO:AOR and over 12.2 thousand views! Thank you everyone for your support and I hope to keep delivering good content as the story progresses.**

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 **Location: State of Jalam, Ancient Sangheili temple, Covenant operating base**

 **Date: 22** **nd** **February 2558**

 **Time: 1823 hours, Arbiter's execution estimated 1 hour 37 minutes.**

" _We better have the element of surprise or this whole mission is a bust."_ Mayne thought to himself as he stepped carefully down the loose crater walls, deliberately placing each foot to prevent any loose rubble from becoming dislodged from its resting place and sent tumbling down the rest of the incline. To make such a mistake would be like turning on a big flashing light and running through the temple grounds chanting the UNSC marine cadence. When he reached the bottom, he heard a small cascade of pebbles run down to rest by his feet and glanced back to the three Sangheili that were accompanying him on the mission.

"Lashra, can you possibly make any more noise?" He said half sarcastically, half irate.

"Be thankful that we are making the minimal amount of noise that we can Human." Lashra replied in a slightly aggravated manner. He had clearly not learnt to appreciate Human sarcasm yet. Mayne turned back to the temple in a crouched position with his eyes peeled for any Covenant movement.

From where they had inserted into the temple grounds, the rear seemed to be devoid of guards or simply Covenant activity in general. It wasn't the Sangheili's fault that they couldn't be as silent as him when moving. They were hulking beings that stood much taller than Mayne and any human in existence, save for the universally known Spartans, or Demons as the Sangheili like to call them, hardly helped by them being the type that would much prefer to charge in guns blazing rather than sneak around like 'A couple of thieving Kig-Yar' as Lashra mentioned earlier.

Once the three Sangheili had made it to the bottom Mayne gestured for the team to advance towards the temple. The temple itself looked to be something out of his history books back in school, the ancient temples of the Aztec Empire that littered the landscape of Mexico back on Earth, except this temple was more rectangular rather than pyramidal.

As they approached the rear of the temple Mayne spotted an opening in the wall of the moss-covered structure, a door that led to a darkness that he couldn't see beyond.

"Catherine, we've found an opening that may lead us to a higher vantage point. The only issue is that it's in the structure. Permission to advance?" He said in a whisper.

"Granted. Just don't be spotted and don't die...Again." Catherine's crackling voice came through and Mayne found himself grinning.

"Will do Sergeant." As he and the Sangheili creeped through the door and into the dark temple Mayne's image enhancing system came online to allow him to see the walls, ceiling and floor in a highlighted state. This would also highlight enemy targets in a red tinge and friendlies in green. It was only when they had walked to the end of the corridor and around the next corner that Mayne had a horrible thought.

"Catherine, I may lose all COMMS the further we get into the temple. Do you copy?" His worries were confirmed when he got his response.

"Your...nnection...breaking up...just find...way to...elp"

" _'Just find a way to help.' I can certainly do that."_ Mayne thought to himself. He turned back to his alien allies that followed him.

"Alright we do this silently, no need to alert the Covies of our presence until the fighting starts." Lashra and his accomplices nodded quietly in the dark corridor. Mayne nodded once and led the group further into the temple with magnum raised and senses on high alert.

Meanwhile on the ground Reesha felt somewhat out of it as she led the Sangheili through the brush to the flanking position Catherine pointed out earlier. Half her attention was in the moment at hand whilst the other was in her mind. Earlier that day she saw Mayne perish but just a few hours later he reappeared and not only that, he also brought three other Sangheili. These Sangheili remained unnamed for now but they were most likely the only surviving souls of the other rescue team. Now after all that had happened she found herself questioning why she had such a shattering sadness course through her at Mayne's apparent death.

The distinct sound of voices dragged her back to reality, causing Reesha to crouch low to the ground and the slight rustling behind her indicated that The Arbiter's Wrath had followed suit. Peeking through the ferns that were now developing a layer of icy condensation, she could spot their target; a Wrath with a team of fifteen Sangheili to support it.

"Wrath is in vision Sergeant Catherine. We await your signal." She spoke over the COMMS.

"Good, we're in position too. We now just have to wait for Mayne. He'll be our height advantage." Catherine responded and severed the connection.

The hissing of Mayne's combat knife sliding out of its sheath was the last thing the Sangheili before him heard before it's eyes darkened as the knife slipped past it's shield and into its neck. Mayne let out a small grunt as he used all his strength to stop the dead Saurian from collapsing to the ground and creating very unwanted noise. Propping the Elite against the wall he wiped his knife against its armour and sheathed it.

Lashra moved past Mayne and glanced down the next T-intersection. This was the fifth one they'd encountered so far and Mayne was becoming increasingly concerned with the lack of vantage points to the outside world.

"We should turn back Human. We are only going to become more lost if we continue." Lashra cautioned but Mayne was already shaking his head.

"No, we keep going until we find an opening. If we fail, we lessen our advantage and our chances of saving the Arbiter."

Lashra took a step towards Mayne with a growl.

"The Arbiter is merely a symbol to the Swords of Sangheilos. Another will rise to take his place should he perish. Maybe even a stronger being who'll crush the Covenant all the quicker."

Mayne stood his ground, determined to keep his current course.

"Are you suggesting that we abandon the Arbiter? That we flee while he dies? That sounds too cowardly, even for you Sangheili. I'm sure you know the meaning of coward."

Lashra paused for a moment, looking ready to tear Mayne to pieces. Mayne was beginning to feel heated, they had travelled all this way to save this Sangheili and now Lashra was going to putting it all at risk.

"Do not dare declare me a coward. I do not abandon our own but there is a line that should not be crossed between honourability and foolishness. Should we continue, we risk all our lives to save an image, an image that can be recreated by another. Even a Human such as you should know that this is complete folly." Mayne was starting to lose control of a logical engagement in exchange for emotion.

"So what about my team? What happens to them? Do we just leave them to die?" He snarled. Lashra didn't bat an eyelid as he replied.

"If it means that we may escape to tell the news that a new leader should be elected then it is a worthy sacrifice."

Now Mayne stepped forward towards Lashra with his hand unconsciously falling to his magnum.

" _That bastard! How could he ask this of me?"_

"You expect me to just leave them!? Catherine, Ajax, Gabriel...Reesha!? You believe that letting good people die so you can run away and live is the best thing to do? Where is the honour in that?" Lashra pulled up short after that statement. His mandibles that were splayed contracted slightly. Was it because he pushed his boundaries with the Sangheili or was it the mention of Reesha, one of his own kind. Too enraged to care Mayne stormed past Lashra and took the left path but turned back at the last moment.

"Do you know how we actually won the war? We stuck together and came to each other's aid, even when things seemed foolish. In fact, it's the foolish acts that turn out to be the most honourable. Now are you coming or not?" Mayne limped down the hall before Lashra could respond.

The Sangheili glanced back to his comrades who watched the entire ordeal unfold and simply nodded and followed after Mayne.

Reesha glanced to the sky with dwindling hope that Mayne would be able to obtain a position of advantage. The sun was now at its lowest in the horizon meaning that their time was coming to an end.

" _Maybe he got lost or delayed by Covenant warriors."_ She other alternative was one she dared not think about again.

"Commander Reesha, I'm not sure if we can afford to wait any longer. This Field Marshall is looking like he's going to eat the Arbiter for dinner." Catherine's voice echoed through the COMMS. Although some part of her told her to disagree she knew in her mind that Mayne had let them down. She was not angered by this but merely disappointed that Mayne would not be able to assist in the battle that was to take place.

"I agree Sergeant Catherine. When you hear fighting from our side move in and secure that Arbiter." Reesha took another glance over the ridge at their opponents before smiling slyly at her Sangheili allies, "Let us send these warriors back to their Gods." She snarled and pounced over the ridge, drawing her carbine and crashing into the unsuspecting Covenant warriors below.

The response was instantaneous. As Reesha's forces opened up on the enemy their opponents responded with an equally intense barrage of plasma and needles that drove the small rescue team into cover. After placing a few shots into the chest of one Sangheili, Reesha's ducked behind a mound of rubble. The sound of human weaponry in the distance told her that Catherine had begun her attack.

 _Please hurry Mayne._ She thought as she hefted her carbine over the rubble and fired off several shots blindly in the direction of the enemy, a loud warble showed that the shots weren't wasted. Suddenly there was a _whoosh_ and _,_ knowingwhat the telltale sound foretold, Reesha dived out of her cover and into the open just as the wrath's mortar detonated on top of her cover, turning it into a small, smoky crater. With no cover and three Sangheili before her she went on the attack. Dropping her carbine and igniting her crimson sword she lunged forward and sunk the blade deep into the first Sangheili before slicing outwards, beheading the second warrior in the same motion. A flurry of plasma rounds flew over her shoulder, causing the final Sangheili to drop in a bloody display of purple haze. Reesha glanced towards the direction of help and saw Zek some meters away give a simple nod before continuing on with the assault.

Reesha dashed to the wrath and lunged upon it, taking some hits from the plasma turret in the process but her shields held. Once upon the gunner she kicked his head back and shoved the blade ferociously into his sternum, killing him outright. Soon she was hammering the hatch of the wrath and dropping a plasma grenade onto the unfortunate soul piloting the tank. With a glorious display of blue and purple the wrath's core exploded, sending debris in all directions. Now only the survivors needed to be dealt with and now with their armoured support gone they should crumble. Reesha rejoined the others and continued their push through the Covenant lines but before they could the sound of human gunfire cracked through the air and the remaining warriors dropped dead.

"Mayne!" Reesha exclaimed as she looked up to the temple and saw four figures perched on a ledge. One clearly distinguishable ODST and three Sangheili, two with minor armour and one with Field Marshall armour.

"Everything looks fine from here Commander." Mayne's voice crackled in her ear, "Go find Catherine and the Arbiter!" Reesha gave her acknowledgement with a nod of the head and ran in the direction of the other battleground.

Strewn before her lay bodies of both Sangheili and Human, although from the ambush her allies took less of a toll. Ahead of her the Arbiter stood in conversation with Catherine and turned to her as she approached.

"Special Operations Commander Reesha 'Moram, I must truly thank you and your team for your valiant efforts today." The Arbiter commended. Reesha saluted and lifted her head proudly.

"Your appreciation should be directed at the Human's you see before you." She gestured to Fireteam Phoenix, standing alert and ready for any remaining Covenant, "For without their help this rescue could never have taken place."

Her smile broadened slightly as she heard the sound of feet pounding on dirt behind her and she turned to see Mayne, limping slightly back towards them.

"It is good to see you are well Mayne." He shook his head a couple of times.

"Not everything is well, my leg hurts like hell." Even though his face was covered and his voice filtered through his helmet Reesha could hear the smile.

In fact Mayne found himself questioning himself over why he smiled when he approached Reesha and wiped it like one would wipe a dirty slate as he approached Catherine. She removed her helmet and had a grin plastered on her face

"Damn it's good to see you alive Mayne. We were worried sick."

Mayne felt taken aback. _"They were that worried about me?"_ He looked to Ajax who approached him and clapped him over the shoulder, knocking him off balance.

"I knew you wouldn't die on us! You're too strong for that." He laughed. Gabriel just turned away and inspected his weapon. Catherine saw this and placed her hand on Mayne's armoured shoulder.

"Don't worry about him. He'll come around eventually." He shrugged, looking over to Reesha who had her mandibles sealed shut and her eyes narrowed in hatred as she stared at the three survivors of the previous team that were now approaching. Something seemed wrong.

"You know the Field Marshall?" He asked her. She simply nodded.

"Yes, I know Lashra 'Saralum, but I wish I never did."


End file.
